Stroganoff Casserole

I Loooooooove Stroganoff

but sometimes its hard to make in advance

or for a crowd that might be coming and going

So I decided to make it into a casserole.

And it was SCRUMPTIOUS.

Here's how I did it:

Saute' 1 yellow onion (chopped) w/ about 1 Tbsp olive oil until clear

add about 2 cups chopped broccoli and/or mushrooms

add 1 whole green bell pepper chopped

add 1/2-1 cup white wine

simmer until vegetables are softened

add about 1 lb ground beef and brown it in same pan as veggies

add 1-2 tsp minced garlic

1-2 tsp season salt

1-2 tsps salt & pepper (or how much taste good to you)

1 Tbsp dried Taragon

1-2 tsp ground Coriander

then add 1-2 cups frozen corn

When all is cooked together, add

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup plain yogurt

Meanwhile, boil water and cook about 3-4 cups egg noodles

Prepare a 9x13 pan by sprinkling about

1/2 cup italian bread crumbs on the bottom

then scoop out and cover crumbs with a thin layer of meat/veggies

followed by a thin layer of noodles

layer back and forth until all of the ingredients have been used

and then cover with a good sheet of italian bread crumbs again

(You can add cheddar cheese on the top if you want, too...we just don't eat cheese here)

Place in the oven (400 degrees)

or cover and place in refridgerator

And cook for 20-30 minutes when you're ready for dinner

Super yummy

Super easy

Enjoy!

Curried Carrot Soup

Its getting to be cold out, so of course we're craving SOUP!

With the gazillion carrots we harvested from our little garden, I decided to look into Carrot Soup recipes....

Here's one I liked and tweeked to fit my family's palate! Hope you think its as scrumptious as we did!!!

Saute

1 large white onion (chopped) and

2 green onion (chopped) in a pot with either

1-2 Tbsp olive oil or butter

Chop up about

4 lbs of carrots (no need to peel them)

Dump the carrots and

4 cans (14 1/2 oz) of chicken broth

into the pot with the onions and bring to a boil

Once boiling, simmer for about 30-45 minutes until carrots are super soft

Once the carrots/onions/broth are all softened

get our your BLENDER or FOOD PROCESSOR

and puree the mix until beautifully smooth

(about 3 cups at a time--don't fill the blender all the way up, as it will spit out the hot hot hot soup and burn you! I promise!)

Pour all of the pureed soup back into the pot and add

1 more can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth

2-4 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp curry powder*** (more if you like more spice but start with 1/2 and taste it)

2 tsp salt

1-2 tsp pepper and

2-3 Tbsp lemon juice

Serve with yummy bread and

a Dollop of Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt

YUMMERS!!!

***a variation on this is adding ground ginger instead of curry powder.

If you do this, don't add so much pepper. :)

Also very yummers and not so spicy

Lemon Butter Herb Sauce

I actually wanted a sweet, but rich flavor to go on a seafood medley pasta dish I had in mind, so I'll post the sauce I made and then also the medley ingredients if you feel like making the rest of it with it.

(I'm sure the sauce would be lovely over any other kind of fish with rice, too. I'll try it that way some time this week.....)

Lemon Butter Herb Sauce for Seafood recipes

1/4 cup butter (not margarine---EVER)

1/4 cup lemon juice (from a lemon or jar is fine)

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp minced garlic (not powder)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Melt all together in a sauce pan

Pour over seafood or toss into pasta/seafood medley

SEAFOOD MEDLEY:

Spaghetti noodles prepared as usual (enough to feed 4-6 people for this recipe)

4-6 cups raw shrimp, mussels, calamari, and scallops (not each, just mixed together)

2 cups broccoli, carrots, and onions chopped (steaming in separate pan)

When spaghetti noodles have about 5 minutes left until soft, place the seafood into boiling water and cook for the remaining 5 minutes of spaghetti cooking.

Drain spaghetti and toss with vegetables and seafood.

Pour lemon butter herb sauce over the mix of foods and serve hot!

Add more salt and pepper to taste!

Enjoy!

Grilled Talapia & Mango Salsa

This recipe came from my sis-in-law who found it from here.

(photo thanks to google images)

When she made it for me I knew it was a keeper.....

• Fish part:
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tilapia fillets
• 
  
• Mango Salsa part:
• 2/3 cup chopped mango
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 4 teaspoons minced red onion
• 2 teaspoons minced red bell pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced green bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 
  

  Directions

  1. Stir the olive oil, garlic, basil, black pepper, and salt together in a bowl. Put the tilapia fillets in a resealable plastic bag; pour the olive oil mixture over the fillets and seal the bag. Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour.
  2. Make the salsa by stirring the mango, lime juice, orange juice, jalapeno pepper, red onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, parsley, and black pepper together in a bowl. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend.
  3. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
  4. Remove the tilapia from the marinade, shaking off any excess oil, and wrap each fillet in a piece of aluminum foil.
  5. Cook the tilapia on the preheated grill until the flesh easily with a fork, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Spoon the salsa over the tilapia to serve.

aunt jan's White Bean & Chicken Hash

My aunt jan used to make this for us when we'd visit her house way back when we were tiny kids.

What's funny is that her own kids don't remember it, but it's the ONLY meal I remember eating at her house.

Anyway, the other day I just had the biggest craving for it, so I made some phone calls and got the recipe.

We made it last night and it was just as I remembered it:

SCRUMPTIOUS.

aunt jan's

White Bean & Chicken Hash

2 cans of chicken in water undrained

1 can white navy beans undrained

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp pepper

3 Tbsp salsa (or more)

Heat all the ingredients together (with juices from canned ingredients) in a saucepan until boiling.

Let simmer about 10-15 minutes to thicken up

Serve hot with tortilla chips

*You can sprinkle cheese over the top (pepperjack is best) if you want

Super easy, super quick, super delicious.

My hubby fell in love with the meal instantly!

That's always a good sign.

Creamy Chicken Calzone-ish dish

So, this dish is inspired by Tamara who has a meal that includes bread,chicken, cream cheese, and a sauce. But her recipe calls for a few things that hurt my tummy (dang lactose intolerance!), so I made up something that was somewhere in the ballpark of her meal.

(Except it looks and tastes much different.)

So, here it is:

A Creamy Chicken Calzone-ish Dish

Start by making a basic bread dough. I use half white and half wheat flour just so its a little more fibrous and heart healthy.

Cut the dough in half and let one half rise into rolls or bread or whatever you want.

Roll the other half of the dough into a flat, almost cinnamon roll/pizza crust shape. Slice downward diagonal slices coming from both sides leaving about a 6 inch strip of unsliced dough in the middle where your creamy chicken mix will go. You'll be braiding the connected sliced strips over the middle in a minute. Does that make sense?

Next, gather these ingredients and blend them altogether by hand or by mixer

(While the oven is preheating to 350 degrees):

1 big head of broccoli Florettes (chopped up into tiny pieces)

3 medium carrots (grated)

1 bunch green onions (sliced into small pieces)

1-2 cans of shredded chicken (drained) or 1-2 shredded chicken breasts

1 (8 oz) brick of cream cheese (I use Neuftachel cheese since its lower in fat/calories/lactose)

about 1 tsp salt

about 1 tsp pepper

about 1 Tbsp garlic powder

about 3 Tbsp parsley

Spoon the creamy chicken mixture onto your bread dough and fold the sliced parts over the chicken as if you're braiding hair until the whole chicken mixture is covered.

Brush butter over the top, sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley over the top of it, and bake in the oven for about 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

While it is cooking, make a sauce.

Here's what I did--and it was scrumptious:

In a small sauce pan combine and boil:

2 cubes of chicken bouillon

1 1/2 cups water

Add a rue of 1 Tbsp butter, 1/2 cup cold water + 1/2 cup flour mixed

Add 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp parsley, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp mustard powder

Bring to a boil and then turn heat to low to thicken sauce

Serve the sauce over the baked chicken-bread thing :)

Yum.

My boys and hubby love love loved it!

Let me know what you think!?

P.S. Don't forget to bake the leftover bread dough...:)

Stuffed Chicken with Chipotle Sauce

Here, I took 4 chicken breasts and filleted them to open (but still connected). We then pounded them flat, sprinkled salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley in them, filled them with conventional stuffing (chicken flavored + a handful of craisens + salt, pepper, and garlic), closed them up, and tied them closed with floss.

Then I poured costco's raspberry Chipotle sauce on them and baked them for 10 minutes at 450. I then flipped them over, poured more sauce on them, and baked them for another 10 minutes. I repeated this process two more times before serving them.

Upon serving them, I doused them with lemon juice and a dash of salt.

They were pretty yummy and super easy to make!

Non-Traditional Stuffed Bell Peppers

(Image off google images)

(I never think to photograph the meals I'm making...my hands are always covered with food so I never want to bring my camera into the kitchen)

I think most of us have tried a stuffed bell pepper...the traditional ones that are filled with tomato sauce and rice. I grew up with them and though I didn't mind them, I never thought that they were scrumptious.

But this year our garden produced more bell peppers than I knew what to do with, so I started playing around trying to find something more dazzling. I looked through a hundred recipes and took some ingredients from some and threw in my own...and made my own dish.

After trying it out successfully on a few crowds, I've decided it was p&p post worthy. Let me know what you think?

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

6 large bell peppers (I used green)

1 tsp-1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

1 yellow onion chopped

2-3 Anaheim peppers (or other ones you like that are spicy)

1/2 cup or so white wine

1-2 Tbsp or so Season Salt

2 tsp or so ground Black pepper

2-3 Tbsp Parsley

1/2-1 tsp Cayenne Pepper (use less if you don't want the kick)

2-3 carrots grated (with a cheese grater)

6-8 oz medium cheddar cheese--grated

chicken/beef flavored rice

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Start Rice on stove

Remove stems and seeds from the bell peppers and place in a large pot of boiling water to boil for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place oil, ground turkey, white wine, and chopped onions in a pan and cook until onions are clear and turkey is cooked through. Add Season Salt, pepper, parsley, cayenne pepper, and grated carrots and simmer--adding a little more white wine or water.

Remove bell peppers from water and place upside down so all the hot water pours out. Wait until cooled enough to be able to hold.

Fill each bell pepper 1/3 way full of meat mixture, cover with a dallop of cheese, cover with meat mixture, cover with cheese, meat mixture, cheese....

Place cooked rice in bottom of large baking dish and place each filled bell peppers on rice. Bake for 20-30 minutes and serve hot.

Super easy. Super delicious.

Kind of spicy....so watch out. :)

Asain Lettuce Wraps

Found this recipe online and we love it!

1 lb. ground turkey

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp fresh ginger root

Cook turkey with above ingredients in skillet. Break up turkey (like taco meat)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup water

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp ginger root

1 tsp brown sugar

mix above ingredients for sauce

cooked rice (I cooked my rice with chicken bullion and soy sauce to give it some asian flavor)

shredded carrot

green onions

rd. bell pepper

lettuce leaves

whatever else you would like as toppings

Use lettuce leaves as "shells" - put some meat and rice and top with veggies. Spoon on sauce as desired.

Its super healthy and DELICIOUS - and quick and easy to make!!

Cafe Rio salad

I made this for dinner and it was SO GOOD, i was quite impressed. It was delicious and the closest to cafe rio/costa vida I have come across.

I am going to post the recipe from the blog that I used . . . and then after each recipe I will post the ways I tweeked it in red . . cause i don't know how to follow a recipe exactly.

SWEET PORK
2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can RED enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness)
1 c. brown sugar
Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.
In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

I used Dr. Pepper instead of Coke, I did not marinate the meat the night before . . . Instead I just put some brown sugar into the crock pot in the morning during the first cooking with the other ingredients. I doubled the amount of meat so we would have leftovers . . so I did double the ingredients and cooked the meat before shredding for about 5 hours.

CILANTRO-LIME RICE
1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

I used instant rice . . . and it was still absolutely delicous. Also doubled this recipe.

BLACK BEANS
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro. (**NOTE** we added a can of corn, drained, to the beans with a dash of cumin and chili powder, it was AWESOME! We recommend doing this even though it's not "traditional Cafe Rio")

I did add the corn, and it was really good!

CILANTRO RANCH
1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (we like it SPICY so we kept the seeds in it, if you like it mild, just remove the seeds)Mix all ingredients together in the blender. That's it!

I just used Ranch Dressing (2 cups) from the bottle instead of the mix with mayo and buttermilk. It was still really good . . . and I used 1/2 the seeds from the jalepeno and it was still quite spicy!

We just put some cheese on flour tortillas and put them in the oven for 5 min . . . then added the meat, rice and beans . . . with lettuce, tomato/onion and the dressing. Big hit.

We fed 4 people . . . tons of meat and beans leftover (maybe cause my hubby won't eat them) . . . and just a tiny bit of rice leftover. We used about 1/2 the dressing.

Pecan Chicken

Oh my lands! I got this recipe from our ward cooking group - it is a recipe by Treesha Rawcliffe who was a pastry chef at Magleby's restraunt. Usually I don't like what I cook the night I cook it because I saw what went in it, however I gobbled this up. Not as healthy as I'd like but very tasty.

Pecan Chicken
1 c. finely chopped pecans
1 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. butter, melted
6-8 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Pecan Sauce
1/2 c. dijon mustard
1/2 c. brown sugar
6 tbls chicken stock
4 tbls soy sauce (I use sodium reduced one)
2 tbls worcestershire sauce
3/4 c. cold butter cut into cubes
1/2 c. sliced green onions

Stir together the pecans, bread crumbs, and 2 tbls of the melted butter. Spread the mixture on a large plate. Press the chicken into mixture to coat on both sides. Heat remaining butter in a large skillet over medium hea. Place chicken in pan and heat on both sides until browned and meat cooked all the way through - about 10 minutes per side.

In a small saucepan, wisk together dijon mustard, brown sugar, chicken stock, soy sauce, and worcestershire sauce until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium low heat ten remove from burner and wisk in the butter one piece at a time. Do not return to heat.

Arrange chicken on plate, pour sauce over, and garnish with green onions.

The sauce is amazing - probably because of how much butter there is - I only put in half of what was called for (which is the amount I put above).

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I'm posting this recipe on the other two *other recipe blogs that I contribute to--not only because I don't have three new recipes to contribute this month, but also because my hubby thought this was SO GOOD (so did I) that I figured I'd share it with everyone.

I made this recipe up for the sole reason that I have never found a good, healthy tuna noodle recipe that wasn't full of butter, sour cream, and cheese. So, I threw together my own ideas and it was a success. Let me know what YOU and YOUR family thinks!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Boil Egg noodles so that you'll have about 3-4 cups of cooked noodles

Meanwhile, in a large skillet sautee (in about 1-2 tsp olive oil):
1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
8 oz (or 10 medium) mushrooms (chopped)
About 1/2-3/4 cup cooking sherry
1 tsp minced garlic

Once onions are translucent add:
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of celery soup
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
2 tsp ground mustard powder
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 to 2 tsp onion salt
1 to 2 tsp garlic powder
1 to 2 tsp salt
1 to 2 tsp pepper

Stir together until its creamy then stir in:
3 cans of tuna (6 oz cans) after draining liquids

When noodles are nearly all the way done boiling, drain the water and stir them in with the creamy tuna mixture in the skilllet. Once thoroughly mixed together pour contents of skillet into a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Sprinkle top of noodles with about 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Place in oven for about 15 minutes or until bread crumbs are browned and top noodles are crisp

Serve hot! Enjoy!

*Tried and True Food
*Delicious Dishes

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 box stuffing
1 can Healthy Choice Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
2 cloves garlic (or two tsp pre-minced garlic)
3 tsp salt
3 tsp pepper
About 2 Tbsp olive oil
Grated Parmesan and mozzerella cheese (optional)
4-6 x 6-inch string/floss pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a small casserole dish with foil
Cut each breast in half (long ways) but not all the way through, opening up the breasts into a heart shape. Pound them out so that they are thinned.
Prepare the stuffing as the box suggests (I leave out the butter for calorie and healthy preferances, but do as you like).
Take several good handfuls of stuffing and place them in each chicken breast. (If you like cheese, this is the time to put some cheese in with the stuffing. I didn't, since I can't have cheese and it was really yummy without it...but some people love cheese, so there you have it)Close the chicken breasts around the stuffing and tie closed with 2 or 3 strings each. You have to tie them pretty tight.
Place the stuffed chicken breasts in the dish and lightly coat each breast with olive oil and salt and pepper (and parmesan cheese--again, if you're a cheese person--if not, it was yummy without it).
Bake on one side for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the Cream of Mushroom Soup with the milk, garlic, and salt and pepper. After the 10 minutes has passed, turn over the stuffed chicken breasts, baste them with olive oil and salt and pepper, and pour the C of MS mixture over them covering them completely.
Bake for 10 minutes at a time for another 40 minutes, turning over chicken breasts and re-covering them with C of MS mixture every turn. (On last 10-minute turn over, add more cheese on top if you're a cheese person)
Serve hot with vegetables and bread.

(I made up this recipe, too, because I wanted a healthy "fancy" meal one night. We thought it was just delicious. Let me know what you think!)

Homemade Sloppy Joes

I just made this SOOOO fast for Dane when he called to say he was coming home for lunch. It was so easy and quick and delicious. I actually used 1/2 lb. ground beef and halved the rest of the recipe (except the tomato paste) so I could use the other 1/2 lb. ground beef for something else for dinner. I left out some stuff - but it still tasted good!

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 onion chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste

1/4 cup ketchup

3 garlic cloves (I used powder cause I didn't have cloves)

1/2 Tbs. chili powder

1 tsp. paprika (didn't have any of this so I left it out)

1 tsp. dried mustard (didn't have this either)

1 tsp. white vinegar

3 Tbs. brown sugar

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Brown the meat and add all the ingredients (add sugar last so it doesn't burn). Put on hamburger buns or bread or whatever your heart desires!!

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

My family actually just calls this dish Easy and Delicious Chicken, but I took the liberty of giving it a more specified name for blog purposes.

2-4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size peices
italian dressing (I use fat free)
1 8oz. package cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth (I use water and it still tastes delicious)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme

Put chicken in crock put, soak in Italian dressing. (I use 1/2 bottle dressing for 2 ckn breasts). Let cook on low for 3-4 hours. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl. After chicken is cooked, drain out liquid from crock put and put the cream cheese/soup mixture in. Let cook for one more hour. Serve over rice or pasta.

(FYI - I use 2 chicken breasts and it feeds my husband and I for 2 meals. If you want to make more than for larger groups . . . add more (than 4) chicken breasts and just double the sauce).

Bulgoogi (Korean BBQ Beef)

This is one of our favorite recipes!!! We love it, So yummy!

1 lb. beef boneless top loin or sirloin steak (I prefer the sirloin)
1/2 cup soy sauce
6 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp sesame or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp pepper
4-8 green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
cooked rice

Cut beef diagonally across the grain into 1/8 " slices (thinly sliced is the key). Mix remaining ingredients in medium bowl. Stir in (raw) beef and mushrooms until well coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 min. Heat 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the liquid off the beef/mushrooms. Cook in the skillet, 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until brown. Serve over rice.

Pork Chops with Apple Dressing

Ingredients:
Pork chops
2 apples (recipe calls for Granny Smith but tonight we used Fuji.) 1 apple cut in small chunks and 1 cut in pretty rings for garnish.
1 1/2c apple juice
stuffing/dressing

1/3c. + 1TB raspberry vinaigrette dressing
1TB grey pupon mustard (I used dijon)
1TB brown sugar

How to:
Brown the pork chops either on stove top or broil.
Preheat oven 375'F.
Mix the rasp. vinag. dressing, mustard, and b. sugar.
Make the dressing/stuffing BUT only use the apple sauce & cut up (small chunk) apple.
Put the dressing in a casserole dish and lay browned pork chops on top.
Garnish with the apple rings.
Drizzle the rasp. vinag. mustard mixture over the pork chops.
Cook 375'F for 20-25 min.

DELISH!!!
* I don't specify how many pork chops or dressing because I just kinda did however much we were going to eat. I used 2 large pork chops and about 3c of dry dressing mix for this recipe.

Kim's Famous Taco Tuesday Recipe

So I've been thinking long and hard about the perfect recipe to post on this blog. After giving it much thought and many sleepless days I have decided to contribute my secret Taco Tuesday recipe. This recipe is a bit complicated, but for the novice chef such as I, it is the perfect Tuesday meal to end the day. Here it is in all its glory!

Del Taco Tuesday -Three Tacos for 99 cents!!!

Here is what you need to do to prepare this wonderful and delicious meal. If you live in Cambria, just take a right out of the complex onto 1300 W. Take a left at the light onto State Street. Go about 1/2 a mile to a mile (exactness in this recipe is not important) until you reach a sign that says Del Taco. Pull into the drive thru. Order 3 hard or soft tacos for 99 cents. Ask for mild or if you are feeling a bit more on the adventurous side, fiery hot sauce. Pay for the meal and drive home. Voila - a yummy meal of tacos prepared in just mere minutes. For those who need help with this meal because it is a wee bit on the complicated side, I am always happy to offer my services, for just 99 cents.

Please note, this meal can only be prepared on Tuesday!!!

Quick Chicken Cacciatore

1 package (10.5 ounces) frozen fat-free breaded chicken breast patties, partially thawed
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into strips
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 small onion, sliced into wedges (about 3/4 cup)
8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 garlic clove, pressed
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese (0ptional)

To partially thaw chicken patties, microwave on HIGH 1 minute only. Cut chicken patties into 3/4-inch strips (or cut them into cubes).
Cook linguine according to package directions in 4-qt casserole. Drain and keep warm.
Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add some olive oil, and add chicken patty strips (cubes), cook for 3 minutes, turning frequently.
Add bell pepper, mushrooms, onion and garlic, cook for 2-4 minutes (until vegetables are tender but not mushy). Add tomatoes, bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes.
Serve over hot linguine. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese, if desired.

I love this recipe, it takes less than 30 minutes to make and it looks like a gourmet meal!

Chili

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/shakespeares_sister/shakes4/chili.png

We've all had chili before, and some of us have had CHILI! This is CHILI!!!

2lbs. ground beef
29oz can tomato sauce (with liquid)
29oz can kidney beans (with liquid)
29oz can pinto beans (with liquid)
1 c diced onion
1/2c diced green chili
1/4c diced celery (I usually don't add this)
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp cumin powder
3 TBSP chili powder
1 1/2tsp black pepper (We like pepper so I always add more)
2tsp salt
2c water

1. Brown the beef, drain off the fat.
2. In a large pot combine all the ingredients and bring to a simmer over low heat.
3. Cook, stirring every 15min or so, for 2-3 hrs.
(Also works great in a crock pot)