they won't eat it!

So I did it, made a dinner my fiancé or soon to be step daughter wouldn't eat. Although I think there were a few factors that didn't include taste in this meal. For instance I am pretty positive Madison was just copying her dad when she said “I don't like the chicken.” I used chicken thighs with the bone in for this dinner and think this was the main reason Dusty wouldn't touch it. I personally loved meal and plan to make it again minus the chicken with the bones maybe with chicken breasts or boneless pork chops. That's what is great about cooking you can subsitute ingredients and change the dish up completely. So I would recommend using boneless meat if you are going to cook this recipe for picky eaters. Here it is:


Ingredients
1lb chicken (either breasts or thighs)
1 can chicken stock
1 can full of brown rice to equal the can of chicken stock
Half a bar of cream cheese softened
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can green chile diced tomatoes
1 bag frozen brocoli
1 cup of mushrooms
Salt and pepper

Recipe
Perheat oven to 375. In a baking pan spread rice along to bottom and add in chicken stock. Place brocoli and mushrooms on top of rice and then the chicken. In a separate bowl mix together tomatoes.cream cheese, and cream of mushroom soup. Salt and pepper the chicken and then pour the mixture over the top. Bake the fish for 1 hour or untill chicken is cooked through.

My taste buds loved this dish and if my family would have been blind folded as they ate it they also would have liked the dish. Instead as I ate my dinner the two of them sat there and my loving fiancé said “well it looks good.”

Untill next time!

Food shows so dangerous!

Sitting here watching the travel channel show called 101 Chowdown Countdown they are showing meat meat and more meat! I wasn't hungry when I sat down to watch TV in fact I was going to let Dusty fend for himself for dinner tonight, but now I am starving. Being lazy from moving today we ordered in, we live pretty far from town but have this great service called mobile waiters, http://www.mobilewaiters.com/. They deliver a wide vareity of different resturants to customers and even to us. Its great because we can't even get pizza delivered out here, now I can get sushi delivered to my door! Tonight we decided to go with a local sports bar in Anthem Legends, I ordered a french dip (gotta love the roast beef) and Dusty ordered a cheese crisp and boneless wings. I will have to tell you how it all tastes after we eat it! But I just wanted to say how much I love this service and the prices are very reasonable. It is great when you wake up sunday morning with a hang over and can order a salt bagel with egg, muenster cheese, and bacon! That will cure a hangover any day and I dont even have to cook. Well I better go the food is here!

Untill next time!

Sunday Fun Day or Lazy Day!

Today was rather a relaxing day and for dinner we decided to make stuffed bell peppers similar to the ones described in this blog ,http://foodloversfindings.blogspot.com/2010/01/time-to-cook.html. Although I switched out the green chile tomatoes with basil garlic tomatoes. I think canned tomatoes are one of the greatest food inventions you can almost add them to anything and they have great flavor. I also decided I wanted to add mushrooms into the mixture but because my fiance doesn't like mushrooms and he was the one basically cooking, I was instructing, I decided just to put a few in the bottom of my bell pepper which was yellow by the way and so yummy. By the time I am able to cook by myself again my fiance is going to know how to cook.

Well along with the stuffed bell peppers I decided to make orzo. I started playing with orzo about a year ago and absolutely love it, there are so many different things you can do with it. One of my favorite ways is cook up some orzo and add cheese to it, and of course my favorite is to add brie to it so creamy, tangy, and wonderful! Of course my fiance says I like that rice stuff, little does he know its pasta lol. So here is how we made it tonight:

Ingredients:
1/2 a bag of orzo, about 3/4 cup
1 lemon
2 cups chopped spinach
3/4 cup shredded parmasen cheese

Recipe:
Cook up the orzo in salted water about 8-10 min. Drain water and place back in hot pan, turn burner to low or off. Add spinach and cheese and stir. Zest the lemon and add the juice of the lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve warm!

Whats your favorite orzo recipe?

Untill next time!

Left Overs!

After that great pot roast dinner there was lots of left over meat, with only two people eating that tends to happen a lot. This year I had set a goal to try and not waste the left overs, we are really bad about putting left overs in the fridge and never eating it again. Unless I eat it in the morning with a fried egg on top...lol. So instead of eating the left overs the same way the new challenge/goal is to make a new meal with the left overs. So what to make with left over beef pot roast, the first thing that came to my mind enchiladas! And then I thought good lck cooking that with one hand, so I recruited the fiance to help. We decided to have a little mexican feast last night with a few friends and the enchiladas, well enchilada cassarole was a great hit! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
Left over shredded beef pot roast about 1 lb
Half of a yellow onion chopped
3-4 garlic cloves grated or chopped
EVOO
1 can of green chile chopped tomatoes
1 stick of soften cream cheese
18 yelllow corn tortillas
1 large can of red enchilada sauce
1 bag of mexican shredded cheese more if desired

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 375
Sautee the onion in garlic over med heat with the EVOO. While the onionsand garlic are cooking shred the meeat into a bowl add the can of tomatoes and softened cream cheese. Add the onions and garlic once they are cooked down and mix. To a cassarole pan pour a little bit of the red sauce enough just to coat the bottom. Place six corn tortillas along the bottom of the pan, layer half of the meat mixture, some shredded cheese and then some more sause. Repeat placing 6 tortillas down, meat mixture, cheese, and then sauce. The last layer add the last six tortillas, then the red sauce and then cheese. Bake in oven for 35-45 minutes or untill cheese is melted and bubbley!

What is your favorite left over meal?

Untill next time!

Stormy Day = Comfort Food!

So I had just typed this blog almost to the end with just my left hand and my lap top died! So I am trying to remember exactly what I was saying. Waking up this morning to the sound of rain, yes rain in Arizona, it has been raining for 2 days now~! So this morning comfort food came to mind. I love quick and easy comfort food, ok who am I kidding I LOVE all comfort food. i could probably write an entire blog on comfort food alone. It was a good thing the grocery store had beef pot roast on sale buy one get one free yesterday. Comfort food in the crock pot great idea and even easier! So I decided pot roast with gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans would be the menu for dinner. It fits in great with my weight loss plans for the year - ya right lol - but rainy days call for comfort food and that was a good enough excuse for me. Usually when I make pot roast I cut up garlic,onions,potatoes, and other veggies, but with one hand and wedding day duties calling this morning I decided to go simple. Simple meaning garlic and cream of mushroom soup. Now I know cream of mushroom soup is not the most professional ingredients, but it makes everything taste sooo good and it is so quick. There are so many great dishes I make with cream of mushroom soup and even my fiance who hates mushrooms eats the dishes with the soup in them to the point were he is about to get sick. I usually don't tell him its in there. After our great meal tonight my fiance said "well at least you can still cook with one hand!" So here is the recipe:

Pot Roast:
Beef Pot Roast (size depends on # of people serving)
4-5 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons steak grill seasoning
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can chicken stock
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (evoo)

Gravy:
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon floor

Recipe:
Coat the bottom of the crock pot with evoo and place the pot roast in. Add the can of chicken stock. Smash the garlic to remove the skin, take a knife and slit holes into the roast and stuff with the garlic. Add the steak seasoning to the top of the roast and then the mushroom soup. Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

Gravy:
After the roast is done pull it out of the crock pot and place in a pan. Add the butter and flour to a pan over med heat. Cook untill the butter smells nutty about 2-3 minutes. Pour the drippings into the pan and whisk, bring to a boil and them simmer to thicken.

Quick and easy! What is your favorite comfort food???

Untill next time!

Time to cook!

Finally went grocery shopping and bought food we can actually cook with instead of frozen pizza, twinkies, and junk food. I am so excited about cooking, since I have been hurt the past three weeks I have only cooked one dinner and fried rice. I think I am having withdraws from cooking lol. I love grocery shopping too, I never go with a list or meal plans I just get a bunch of food bring it home and see what I can do with it. Ok I plan a little bit but not too much. I did buy yellow and red bell peppers to make stuffed peppers one of my favorites:

Ingredients:
4 bell peppers (which ever color you like and try to find the ones that will stand up by themselves)

1lb ground beef,chicken, or turkey
2 garlic cloves grated or chopped
half a yellow onion chopped
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
can of green chile chopped tomatoes
2 cups fresh chopped spinach (you can always use frozen instead)
Shredded cheddar cheese

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 375
Sautee chopped onions and garlic in evoo over med heat add meat once the onions have cooked down. While meat is browing cut off the tops of the bell peppers and clean out the seeds. Once the meat is cooked through add the can of tomatoes and chopped spinach, cook untill spinach is wilted down. Fill the bell peppers with the meat mixture. Add the shredded cheese to the top of the peppers and bake untill cheese is melted and bubbly, about 15 min.

This is one of my favorite dinners and the left overs are also great. After I cook this the next morning I love to take one of the left over peppers heat it up and place a fried egg on top sooo good. I love to put fried eggs on top of anything thou.

Well untill next time!

Kitchen on Fire

Well its been a few days, had my second surgery on thursday and just feeling better. After this surgery they wrapped my right hand up so much there is nothing I can do with it. At least before I could do a little bit I was even typing with my thumb and first two fingers before, but not know. So needless to say I have been needing a lot more help then before and havent tried to cook yet. My favorite thing to do on saturday morning is to cook breakfast, well my lovely fiance decided he was going to make breakfast. I really wanted to go to the bagel shop to get breakfast, not only just to have breakfast but to get out of the house. Well the bagel shop was shot down and I was told to sit down and let him cook. Being noisey I walk into the kitchen to see what was going on, first thing I see frozen hasbrowns in a pan with no oil or butter. So instead of watching them burn or who knows what will happen I told him to add the butter. Then I get the question "How do I cook the bacon" did he really just ask that. So I told him the easiest way I like to do it is on the broiler pan in the oven, he responded " I cant do it in the microwave?". So  I thought he was clear on the broiler pan untill he said "only 4 pieces of bacon fit on the pan", I was thinking to myself I can fit 4 big steaks on that pan there is no way only 4 pieces of bacon fit there. Walking into the kitchen to see what he was talking about I find he was using the small toaster oven pan, so I redirected him to the bigger pan and figured everything was under control. Well that was untill he was screaming "its on fire its on fire" I run into the kitchen to find the smaller pan with the 4 pieces of bacon on fire! After blowing and using a dish towel to get out the fire I asked how this happened. Well come to find out he took the small broiler pan and set it on one of the top burners of the stove and I think with the grease dripping down into the hot oil with heat directly underneath it it caught on fire! But needless to say the breakfast was great, I am just ready to take back over kitchen duties hopefully soon!

So whats you kitchen tragedy story? Would love to hear from everyone!

I cooked, I cooked!

Yes I finally cooked one handed with my left hand. I made my own version of chicken parmigiana with what I had in my pantry, and it was pretty darn good. I was so excited to cook, it is one of my farvorite things to do and it really relieves my stress. Some people hate to cook but not me! It is like my creative outlet, there is no wrong in cooking unless you burn something! I love trying new recipes or making up my own! I espescially love cooking for myself, because then I can but together what others might think to be wierd crazy concoctions. Put it this way one of my favorite snacks when I was in highschool was chocolate chip cookies dipped in queso cheese dip! I am a huge fan of sweet and spicy. There used to be a resturant by our house that had my favorite hot wings they were strawberry hot, I could eat them all night. I want to try to make them I think if you melted down jalapeno jelly and tossed it with wings it would be pretty close. I just cant seem to find jalapeno jelly at our grocery store. Once I am better I think that will be one of the first things I want to make, just need to find that jelly. So anyway what did i cook the other night, well here is the recipe:

ingredients:
chicken cutlets or strips (i used strips about a pound)
2 can diced tomatoes ( i like the flavored one with basil or itilian seasonigs)
1 can tomatoe sauce
half a bag of frozen brocoli
Italian Bread Crumbs
Handful of Parmasen Shredded Cheese
1-2 cups mozzeralla cheese
1 package gnocchi
olive oil
2 eggs
splash of milk
salt and pepper
2 cloves of garlic

recipe
Pour enough evoo in the bottom of a pan to coat. Grade garlic into evoo and place heat to medium. Make an egg was in a wide bowl to dip chicken into by whisking together 2 eggs and a splash of milk. On a plate combine bread crumbs and parmasen cheese. Create an assembly line next to the pan with the garlic. Raise the heat to medium high, drench the chicken in the egg wash and then bread crumbs and place in the pan with the garlic and oil. Continue untill all the chicken is in the pan. Cook about five minutes each side or untill chicken is cooked through. While chicken is cooking bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Once the chicken is done cooking add the frozen brocoli to the chcken pan along with the can of tomatoes and tomatoe sauce, cover and bring to a boil. Once the pot of water is boiling add the gnocchi cook 3-4 minutes or untill they float to the top and drain. Once the sauce is boiling add the mozeralla cheese ontop to melt. Cover untill melted. Serve by placing gnocchi in a bowl and placing chicken and sauce on top.

This was a great first meal to make after my accident, although I do have to say I missed chopping!

Well untill next time!

Childhood memories

You know how that one certain food can trigger many childhood memories? Well this is what happended last night and although it was the cucmber salad that took me back to eating dinner at my grandparents house I have many foods that take me back to childhood memories. So back to the cucmber salad, this is something my grandmother would make many times when we would come over for dinner. It is so good and almost has the slight taste of dill pickles. It has a creamy dressing and the crunch of the cucmbers just make the dish complete. My mother made the salad with red onions last night which give it good flavor but I choose yo pick them out because I can't stand red onions. Anyway here is the recipe give it a shot and tell me what you think!

ingredients:
1-2 english cucmbers (you can use regular cucmbers just make sure and peel them)
1 cup sour cream
1-2 tablespoons of vinegar or red wine vinegar
fresh dill or dried dill
salt and pepper

slice the cucmbers thinly and place in serving bowl. In another bowl mix sour cream, vinegar, and chopped dill, add one tablespoon of vinegar first taste and add more if needed. Add mixture to cucmbers salt and pepper to taste and serve.

A lot of my recipes I make I usually don't measure ingredients out but here I try to give about what I think I use. Also like I said before my mom adds sliced red onions to this dish.

So what dish takes you back to childhood? I would love to hear your family's dishes!

Hospital Food

Yes this is the subject of the day! After three days in the hospital there is much to be said about the food. Thank god I was not put on a diet restriction while I was there. The first hospital meal salsbury steak mashed potatoes gravy, salad and a role. After 24 hrs of not eating I basically inhaled the food, actually because I wasnt used to using my left hand to eat my sister was feeding me. But trust me she couldnt get the food in my mouth fast enough, I dont think I left anything on that plate. I remember the potatoes tasting really good and the brown gravy was excellent, don't know if I was just so hungry or it actually taste good. Breakfast the next day wasnt bad either, cheese omlet, biscuit, coffee,orange juice, milk, cereal...I ate everything but the cereal and just love the fact you get three choices of drinks lol. I actually think the coffee at the hospital was really good. As the days went on the food got worse, the biscuits didnt taste good the eggs got runny, and the chicken was rubbery, but the coffee was still good. The last day I was there, I didnt know it was the last day, my amazing mother brought me a cheese platter from Duck n Decanter! Brie, goat cheese, soft cheese with cream cheese wrapped around it, crackers, bread, apples, and grapes! It was amazing, put it this way I love cheese way more then funnel cake and brie is my favorirte. The way it melts in your mouth with the tangy taste oh just amazing. So needless to say my last meal in the hospital the cheese platter was amaxing, maybe hospitals should start going gourmet!

Well next thursday is another surgery so we will see how the food is then!

Untill next time...

Its been awhile...

Well needless to say my camping trip did not end as planned, although the food was great. I ended up in a roll over utv accident where I smashed my hand up pretty good and almost lost my finger. So that is why I havent posted in a few days and yes I am typing with my left hand. I am going to break down my food expriences with different posts. So today I am going to talk about green bean cassarole! Yes one of my favorite side dishes at thanksgiving and christmas, or any big dinner event! So as we plannded the big ham dinner for the new years sand dune trip I offered to bring the green bean cassarole. Getting ready to make the cassarole I realized we forgot cream of mushroom soup, well I guess plain green beans it is... well thats what I thought but my dads creative cooking came to the rescue! This was one of the best green bean cassaroles I have ever had and will be the tradition from now on. It was so savory hint of onion and mushroom and of course the green beans.

ingredients:
4 cans of green beans
1 brick of cream cheese
1/2 a stick of butter
chopped mushrooms
1/2 a cup of milk
chopped green onions
crunchy onion topping
salt and pepper

In a med sized skillet saute the butter onions and mushrooms until mushroom are cooked down. Over medium heat add the cream cheese and milk to the onions and mushrooms and melt down. While the cream cheese is melting add the green beans to a baking pan, if camping I prefer to use an aluminum throw away baking pan. Once the cream cheese is melted pour over the top of the green beans. Add the crunchy topping and bake at 375 for 30-40 mins then enjoy!

Trust me you will love this recipe! 
Untill next time!