Chile Con Queso

Chile Con Queso

Brown ground meat in pan sprayed with cooking spray. I used 93/7 so that I wouldn't have to drain the fat. If you use a different one you may have to drain fat.

Add onions while browning the meat and saute together.

Cut up a 32 oz loaf of velveeta cheese.

Add cut up velveeta and a can of undrained rotel once the meat is browned and onions are tender.

Once the cheese is all melted, keep warm on low in a crockpot. I used a crockpot liner for easy clean up.

Tuna Dip

This is for the non cheese lover of our family (Hi Leslie lol). We all do eat it though lol.

Tuna Dip

One can of tuna in oil

One can of cream of mushroom soup

Mix both together in bowl.

Enjoy with tortilla chips or fritos.

Here is the first of many posts today

I thought I would blog each of the recipes I am making today.

Here is the first.


          
Splenda Chocolate Cake

Start by spraying a 9 x 13 pan with canola cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a stick of butter in large bowl. It helps alot if the butter has sat out and softened.

Add  1 1/2 cups splenda.

Add 1 cup milk.

Add 1/2 cup fat free half and half.

Add 2 eggs.

Add 1 tsp vanilla.

Mix. It will be lumpy from the butter. This is ok.

In another bowl mix 2 1/4 cups cake flour.

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda.

Mix all of those together then add them to the wet mixture and stir together to combine.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 14 to 18 minutes or till toothpick comes out clean from center.

 Allow to cool completely on wire rack. Cut into 12 servings.

Steak in a gravy

Cajun Steak in a Gravy

Start by cutting up onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. 

Next get a dry black iron pot hot. Season meat with salt and pepper then brown on both sides. Remove meat from pan. Add a tablespoon of oil, and all of the veggies except for the garlic. Once there is a little moisture from the veggies, add the garlic.

Once the veggies are tender, add a little flour, couple or so tablespoons. Stir in well to the veggies and cook a minute or so to get rid of the raw flour taste.  I added the broth and if it needs to be darker you can add the kitchen bouquet.  Now just simmer, stirring occasionally till meat is tender and gravy has thickened a little.

Enjoy!

Baked Stuffed Flounder

Start by putting a little olive oil and butter in a skillet. Saute' onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic seasoned with a little salt and pepper till veggies are all soft.

Don't use the expensive shrimp and crab in this. The canned one is fine.

One of my favorite finds at Dollar Tree recently! It is to strain cans and works well.

Add the shrimp and crabmeat after draining well. Stir and add in just enough bread crumbs to tighten up the mixture. You don't want alot of breading, or at least I don't.

Once it is mixed well take off heat and allow to cool.

This went into the fridge till I was ready to stuff the fish.

Finished product. I stuffed them and seasoned with salt and pepper. Also sprayed some butter flavored cooking spray over them. Then bake for about 20 minutes at 400. Enjoy! We sure did!

Sugar Free South Seas Chocolate Pie

Here is the recipe.

1 package sugar free instant chocolate pudding mix
2/3 cup dry milk powder
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1 cup water
1/2 cup cool whip
1 banana cut up
graham cracker pie shell

Line bottom of pie shell with sliced bananas. Mix dry pudding and dry milk powder. Add water and coconut extract. Mix well. Pour into pie shell covering bananas. Top with cool whip and chill at least 2 hours. Slice into 8 slices.

Crab and Corn Soup

I am making crab and corn soup and fried shrimp poorboys on homemade rolls. I will try to get pictures tonight and hopefully start posting regularly again.

Crab and Corn Soup

1 stick butter
2 tbs flour
1 onion, chopped
1 pound crabmeat
1 quart milk
2 cans cream corn
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can cream of mushroom soup
tobasco to taste
1 pk provolone slices
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Blend together melted butter and flour over low heat and cook for a couple of minutes. Add onions, saute till tender.

Add remaining ingredients and cook for about 40 minutes. Stir often cause it will stick if you don't.

Serves 8 at least

March 15th Meal Plan

I am listing these Monday, Tuesday, etc but we won't necessarily have them on those days, just hopefully sometime this week.  I am starting with Monday cause today is our grandson Nicolas' birthday and we are going there for supper.

Monday:  Chicken and Dumplings, Rice, Cream Style Corn

Tuesday:  Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Parsley Potatoes, Roasted Carrots, Garlic Breadsticks

Wednesday: Red Beans and Rice with Sausage, Rolls

Thursday: Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti with Sauce, steamed Broccoli, boiled okra, texas toast garlic bread

Friday: Hamburger Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, Peas, Rolls

Yes we love the homemade rolls and they are so easy using the bread machine to mix the dough.

Testing, testing?

Am I really here? yes lol I am... And I am working on my meal plan for the coming week.. look for it soon.

Sunday February 28, 2010

Wow it has been 20 days. A long stressful 20 days. We have had 8 deaths affect our family in those few days. I am glad they are behind us and hopefully things are getting better. We have cooked some times during the 20 days, but not alot, and alot of the time we ate meals prepared for us, etc.

But all that to say, here was supper tonight.

We had pork tenderloin, parsleyed potatoes, and corn macque choux.

The pork tenderloin is very quick and easy. It is our go to in a hurry but want something good meal.

Pork Tenderloin

Melt a stick of  butter in a heavy oven safe skillet. Season the pork tenderloin with your favorite seasoning blend. Sear the tenderloin well on all sides. Place skillet in oven at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Let rest about 10 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy!

Monday February 8, 2010

Supper was Shrimp fetticini, shrimp salad and steamed asparagus.

Very Simple Shrimp Salad

1 head of lettuce
1 pound of salad shrimp boiled with crab boil
mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Cut up lettuce, mix with all other ingredients.

Chill.

Menu Planning Monday February 8, 2010

Monday - Shrimp Fetticini, shrimp salad

Tuesday - hamburgers, fries

Wednesday - Chinese

Thursday - Fried Fish, Catfish courtbouillion

Friday - Fried Rabbit, fries

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Tonight we had pork tenderloin, garlic spaghetti.

Pork tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin

salt, pepper, etc to taste

butter, at least 4 tablespoons

Put oven safe skillet over high fire to heat up. Season the tenderloin. Melt butter and sear tenderloin on all sides. Place skillet in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the tenderloin. Slice after letting rest about 10 minutes.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Tonight we had calcutta chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon and homemade rolls.

Bread Machine Yeast Rolls

1 cup  water 2 tbs  butter 1 egg 3 1/4 cups  flour 1/4 cup  sugar 1 tsp  salt 3 tsp  yeast

1 Put all ingredients into bread machine in order given. Set to dough cycle. 2 When finished lift dough from pan, put in greased bowl and knead a little. Pinch off 12 balls and shape into balls. Flatten them a little. Put onto baking sheet sprayed with Pam. Cover and let rise 1 hour. Bake at 375 for 12 - 15 minutes.

Menu Planning Monday

Let's see if I can figure out how this linking thing works lol.  I am gonna put up a plan for the next week, loosely follow it lol, the days may change, and then try and link to organized junky.

Monday - tonight we go to a cooking demo and will snack there and then come home and eat a sandwich if still hungry. (read hubby will eat a sandwich lol)

Tuesday - Shrimp and egg stew, rice, cream corn, homemade rolls

Wednesday - Calcutta chicken, roasted garlic potatoes, green beans

Thursday - Pork Tenderloin, garlic spaghetti, beets

Friday - maybe go out as it is payday

Saturday - Fried Catfish, catfish courtbouillion, rice, corn

Sunday - super bowl, may be boiling crawfish at oldest daughters house, keri of kerivsgrocerystore

ok off to try to link to organized junkie... wish me luck...

Saturday January 30, 2010

Tonight we had lasagna, spinach salad with grape jelly viniagrette, and focaccia bread.


Focaccia Bread

Can use as pizza dough

1 tb  sugar 1/4 oz  yeast 12 oz  water 18 oz  flour 1 1/2 tsp  salt 3 oz  onions, medium dice 1 tb  olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons  salt 2 tbs  rosemary

1 Combine the sugar, yeast and water. Stir to dissolve the yeast. 2 Add the flour to the yeast mixture in 4 parts. 3 When the flour has been absorbed, add the first measure of salt and the onions. 4 Generously oil a bowl. Place dough in boil to rise until double. Can be refrigerated 2 hours to overnight. 5 In 13x9 pan, using your fingertips push the dough until it fills the pan. Ease the dough to fit the pan, might have to give it a quick break now and then. 6 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil. Allow the dough to double in size. If adding herbs do so now. 7 Bake at 400 for approximately 20 minutes or till lightly browned.

Servings: 10

Friday, January 29, 2010

Hubby took me out to supper tonight so no recipes or pictures.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Tonight we had baked chicken, parsleyed potatoes, oven roasted carrots and dinner rolls.

Here is how I did the chicken.

Marinade:
1/2 c soy sauce
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients. Pour over chicken in zip lock bag. Cover and marinate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Bake at 325 for about 1 1/2 hours. I used a large pack of thighs, but any cut of chicken would work.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

If you follow Keri's blog along with mine she won't post for today cause she had supper here tonight lol.

Here is the menu. Crawfish Etouffe, rice, noodles, green beans.

Here is the pictures of her plate and mine. She ate it over rice, I ate it over noodles.

I know I am strange lol. The traditional cajun way is over rice.

over rice

over noodles

Here is the Etouffe recipe.

Crawfish Etouffee

1 stick butter per pound of crawfish
1 lb crawfish
1 onion cut up
bell pepper
salt to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup water

Melt butter. Saute onion and bell pepper till tender. Add seasonings. Cook about 10 more minutes. Add crawfish and water. Simmer another 20 minutes.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Tonight I am cooking Chicken Parmigiana, steamed broccoli, bread sticks.

Here is the recipe.

Chicken Parmigiana

Thin cut or pounded chicken breasts, 4-6
1/2 cup flour
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cups red wine (white works also but I was out of white lol)
1 can (large) san marzana tomatoes, crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
salt and pepper again to taste
chopped parsley
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, fresh is best
1 pound spaghetti, cooked

Mix flour and salt, pepper and garlic powder together.

Dredge flatten chicken pieces in the flour and set aside.

Heat olive oil and butter in large skillet till hot and butter is melted. Fry chicken pieces till golden brown on both sides and cooked through.

Remove chicken and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add onions and garlic to skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes. Deglaze pan with wine scraping up any chicken pieces left in pot. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes or till wine is reduced by half.

Pour in tomatoes, sugar and salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Simmer 30 minutes. I added parsley at this time cause I used dried. Taste for seasoing and carefully lay chicken breasts on top of sauce and cover them completely with parmesan  cheese. Cover and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer till cheese melts and chicken is heated through.

Serve over cooked pasta.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Tonight we had fresh sausage in a brown gravy, rice, cream style corn and fresh french bread.

Hubby cooked and I didn't get before pictures but here is an after.

Here is the recipe for the sausage.

Fresh sausage

onions

water

Brown sausage well in dutch oven. Add diced onions, water to cover.  Simmer till almost all of the water is cooked out. Add water to cover. Simmer till reduced to about 1/4 of liquid.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Hamburger steaks, mashed tators and peas was the menu.

Here is the before picture...

Here is the after....

Here is the recipe..

Hamburger Steaks

2 lb ground meat
seasonings of your choice
onions
bell pepper
mushrooms
cream of mushroom soup
beef stock or broth

Season ground meat with your favorite seasonings. I don't add anything other then salt, pepper and garlic to my meat, but if you want to add anything else, go right ahead. I won't be there to see lol.  Shape into steaks.

Brown both sides of steak in dutch oven. Add onions, bell peppers, mushrooms.  Mix together all other ingredients with some more seasonings and pour over steaks. Simmer for about an hour. Go easy on the salt as the soup, and stock are both salty.

A recipe, but no pictures

Hopefully soon I will be back in the swing of things.  But I recently did cook our favorite french dip sandwiches for supper after the funeral. Here is the recipe.

French Dips in the Crockpot

beef roast 4-5 lbs
2 packages dry italian dressing mix
2 packages au jus gravy mix
2 cans beef broth or water and bouillion to make up 3 3/4 cups
sliced onions
seasonings of your choice but go easy on the salt because of the sodium in the mixes and the broth or bouillion.

Place the roast in crockpot. Mix all other ingredients except onions in a bowl till well mixed. Pour over roast. Add sliced onions around the roast. Cover and cook for about 4 hours. I have an auto setting on mine and it starts out on high and after a couple of hours switches to low. Flip roast over and cook for another 2 hours. Pull the roast apart or slice. Put back into crockpot and let cook for another 30 minutes to an hour in the juices. Serve on your favorite hoagie type bun or french bread.
Serve juice on side to dip into.

We served with chips.

So sad

I probably won't post much over the next few days unless I need the distraction. My mother-in-law is losing her battle with cancer and old age. She probably won't make it till tomorrow.

Monday January 11, 2010

Tonight we had buffalo wings, parsleyed potatoes, baked beans.

Here are the players....

Here is the recipe for the parsleyed potatoes..

Parsleyied potatoes

small red potatoes, quartered
water to cover
chicken bouillion cubes (about 6 broken up)
butter
salt
pepper
parsley

Boil the potatoes in the water with the bouillion cubes. When they are tender, drain, toss with melted butter, seasonings of your choice and parlsey.

Sorry I don't mearsure.

Peppered Rabbit

Tonight we had peppered rabbit, rice and corn.

I will post pictures but not the recipe cause it wasn't that great.

Here however are the pictures...

Saturday January 9th, 2010

Sloppy Joes, french fries, canteloupe

Here are finished pictures

and here is dessert

and here is the sloppy joe recipe.

Sloppy Joes

16 oz  lean ground beef 3/4 cup  finely chopped onions 3/4 cup  finely chopped bell peppers 1/2 cup  ketchup 1/2 cup  water 1 tablespoon  white vinegar 1 tablespoon  worcestershire sauce 1 Tbs  yellow mustard 1 tablespoon  splenda 6 hamburger rolls In large skillet sprayed with butter pam, brown the meat, onions, and bell pepper. Stir in ketchup, and water. Bring to a boil. Add vinegar, worcestershire sauce, mustard and splenda. Mix well. Lower heat and simer 6-8 minutes ( I usually cook it for at least 30 ) stirring occasionally. For each sandwich, spoon about /2 cup filling between bun halves. Servings: 6  Nutrition Facts Serving size: 1 serving Percent daily values based on a 2000 calorie diet. Nutrition information provided by the recipe author. Amount Per Serving Calories 227.00 Calories From Fat (28%) 63.00 % Daily Value Total Fat 7.00g 11% Sodium 298.00mg 12% Carbohydrates 25.00g 8% Net Carbohydrates 25.00g Protein 16.00g 32%

Friday January 8th, 2010

Tonight we had canteloupe, parmesan cheese noodles, and shrimp and eggplant casserole.

I forgot to take a before picture but here is an after.

Here is the recipe for the casserole.

Shrimp and Eggplant Casserole

Peel and dice 2-3 nice size eggplants.
Boil them till just starting to get tender.
Drain well and saute the eggplant with onion, bell pepper, celery and lots of seasoning of your choice.

When the veggies are tender add in the shrimp. Saute until the shrimp are done. Add enough seasoned bread crumbs to firm up the mixture. Put into sprayed casserole and top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 till nice and bubbly.

enjoy!

Fajitas!

Tonight we are having fajitas for supper.

Here are the ingredients.  And sorry but I forgot to take a picture after it was made.

But here is the guacamole recipe I used.

Guacamole
	2 avocados 1/2 red onion, chopped fine 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced 2 tsp  cilantro 2 tbs  lime juice 1/2 tsp  kosher salt pepper 1 pack  cherry tomatoes, cut into 6 pieces each Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avocado from peel and coarse cut into small pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Servings: 8

Wednesday January 6th

The menu tonight was thrown together at the last minute. We were supposed to go to cooking demo but hubby ended up working late.

So we had Jambalaya, green beans, and rolls

Here are the ingredients except for the onion I used in the green beans. I forgot to grab one for the picture.

Here is the Jambalaya, I made it with smoked sausage and chicken.

I used a can of fresh style green beans, drained. First I browned some bacon cut into small pieces and some onion diced. Then I added the drained green beans, a little pepper and cooked it down.

And here are the rolls and yes they are brown and serve. Since I wasn't planning on cooking I didn't have time to make fresh ones. I ran to the grocery at 5 to get the ingredients and had supper on the table at 7.

January 5th, 2010

No cooking tonight, going to Johnny Carinos with some friends. So hubby and son (he is 19 lol) will fend for themselves.

January 4th, 2010

For supper tonight we had Shrimp in a creamy tomato sauce over spaghetti, oven roasted carrots, and garlic bread.

Here is the recipe for the carrots. It was a new one for me and I usually don't enjoy carrots but I could have eaten the whole bowl of these and we will have them again soon. Hubby enjoyed them alot too.

Oven Roasted Carrots

Peel carrots and cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch lengths. Then cut in half. Coat lightly with vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast in 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or till lightly browned and tender.

Here are pictures of supper.

Fried Venison Backstrap

I did cook tonight, made fried venison backstrap, three cheese mashed tators, and corn.

But I forgot to take a picture lol. If you want any of the recipes, just let me know. I will try to remember to do better tomorrow.

No Cooking Today

We had leftovers for lunch and we are going to our grandsons birthday party and then out to eat chinese with them.

New Years Day Menu

Today we had pork roast, rice, lima beans, black eye peas, cabbage with fresh sausage, homemade bread and homemade carrot cake.

Here is a picture of a plateful of food and a piece of cake.

This is how I made the cabbage and sausage:

1-2 large heads of cabbage
2 pounds of fresh sausage (your favorite one)
1/4 cup of water
seasonings to taste

Start out by browning the sausage in the pot. Add the cut up cabbage and water along with seasonings.

Cover and stir often till the cabbage is as tender as you like it. We enjoy it very tender and actually with a little "brown" to it.

WOW!

I just now realized I haven't updated or posted here since August. Where has the time gone?

Well if you look under blogs I read, you will see that I added 54 new links between yesterday and today. Why 54? Well because I am 54 years old of course lol. Actually I went to http://orgjunkie.com/ and saw that she does a menu planning Monday and alot and I do mean alot of people post links to their blogs/sites where they list their menu ideas and some of the recipes. I thought what a great way to get new ideas and recipes. Also I quickly scanned some of their main pages and there is alot of good stuff on them. So I posted the links here, so that you and I can browse the sites and the menus and recipes if we need new ideas.

Each week I will try and get the first 54 that post and add any new ones. I figure the same people won't always be the first 54 to post so I will get at least a few new ones each time. And who knows, maybe I will figure out how to link my plan if I post one on here.

Later today I will take a picture of my plate of food for new years and post the picture here along with a recipe or two for you.

Till next time, Happy New Year.