Sloppy Joes, slop, sloppy Joes!

Slacker! I'm guessing it's time again for that obligatory update every six months to a year post? Sorry. Nothing new here. Same old, same old. Still experimenting in the kitchen, haven't set off the fire alarm in the past several months. Though, yes, the oven could sure use a cleaning again. Note to self: baking soda is a rather crappy cleaner due to the white residue it left behind last time.

Last night, I was really craving some sloppy joes so I began defrosting a couple chunks of ground beef while I scoured the cupboard for sloppy joe mix...oops, I ran out of it. Have no fear! Random cookbook of the shelf to the rescue! And if I didn't have one, I would've just headed for pinterest instead.

I love compilation cookbooks sold by fundraisers. Come by my house pedaling one and I might just cave easier to you than a girl scout selling Grasshoppers. My lifesaver came via the latest MOPS cookbook and someone named Sara Odonnell. (Gotta try and give credit where credit is due.) So why do I love these sorts of cookbooks? Because, most times, the recipe has been tried and tested by a regular Joe (get it, haha, um yeah) and is most likely a family favorite. Yes, I have Rachel Ray and Pioneer Woman cookbooks but frankly, I reference these little guys/gals more often.

Sloppy Joes:

Brown up 1 pound of ground beef. Throw in some diced onion and green peppers if you'd like. For the sauce, add in some dashes of garlic salt, 3 TBSP brown sugar, a few squirts of mustard, and 1/2 cup ketchup (give or take, depending on how saucy you want).

I think hubby liked it's sweetness. He also praised the homemade french fries with that pink stuff called Utah fry sauce. Nope, those things need more work before ending up here. So there you have it. Manwich? Powdered packets with high sodium content? The time has come for me to say goodbye.

P.S. Anybody catch my nod to SNL and Adam Sandler? Fist bump right atcha!

Snow Day Pancakes

Today, the Iowans declared it a snow day and that means it's pancake day in our household! Rather than the ol' bisquick or box pancake mixes, I whip mine up from scratch. Oh that must be sooooo hard! Says me never. So today I'll share the recipe that I've adapted over the years for my family.

First rule of thumb is pancakes in our house must contain at least one fruit, be it bananas or apples or chocolate chips. Er wait, chocolate chips don't count, do they? :P

Today's pancakes started with three bananas tossed into the bowl and promptly mashed with my whisk. (Some minor frustrations may or may not have been dealt with in the process.) Then I added the rest of the basic pancake ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup quick oats (the instant oatmeal kind)
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
 2 TBSP baking powder
+/- 2 tsp cinnamon
+/- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup oil
+/- 2 cups milk

Note that how much cinnamon and nutmeg you add really depends on your personal as well as familial preferences. Whisk all that together while the griddle is heating (250-300 degrees on an electric griddle or medium heat on a stove top griddle). Using the 1/4 measuring cup, splort some batter blobs onto the griddle and cook until little bubble holes start popping up. Flip and let the other side get golden brown as well.

I can't recall how many pancakes one batch makes. Sometimes our little family of four eats them all and sometimes we have a few leftovers for the freezer.

Rising Again: Whole Wheat Bread

In my efforts to write more, I've decide my goal should also include updating the good ol' Domestic Engineer blog; even if few visit. So here I am, trying to resurrect this sorry little baking blog of mine yet again! And isn't it fitting that I begin with a bread recipe?

I used to be too afraid to make homemade bread. Yeast was such a fragile and expensive ingredient, in my mind. And I naively assumed one must knead of the dough by hand and let it rise multiple times. Geez, bread must be such a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. Why does anyone bother?

And then one day, I decided to confront those fears. Make homemade bread? Challenge accepted! I researched the making of bread. I chose a recipe. I bought yeast. I made bread!

And...I failed:

So what do you think I did next? I quit...until I went home for Christmas and took proper lessons from a master bread maker - my mother.

And I succeeded! Further proof:

So I am passing along my lessons in bread-making to you. It's not as daunting as one thinks! So I dare you to try your own hand at it!

Whole Wheat Bread (2 loaves)

2 1/2 cups hot water
2 TBSP oil
2 TSBP honey
1 TBSP yeast
+/- 6 cups wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP dough enhancer or conditioner
1/4 cup gluten
(I have a cool Amish grocery store where I get these last two unusual ingredients but I'm sure you can find them around your town.)

First, pull out your trusty rusty 60's avocado green kitchen aid mixer, named Ethel. Oh, yours isn't green and named Ethel? Oh well. As long as you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.

Measure in the hot water and sprinkle in the yeast. Momma says it likes a nice hot bath! Mixing on a low speed, add in the oil, honey, salt, dough enhancer, and gluten. One cup at a time, slowly add enough wheat flour until a dough ball begins to form and pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. The amount of flour you use depends on the season and your local climate. My mother used more flour in Utah than I do here in Iowa, it seems.

Mix on a medium speed for about 6 minutes. This is the kneading part I was so afraid of when, ending up, most of it's done by the mixer, hah! While that's going on, prepare two loaf pans by greasing them with some crisco and a paper towel. Grease a little of your counter too since you're going to knead out any last air bubbles before splitting the dough in half. My mother takes out some of her pent up aggression out by slapping the dough on the counter. A good smack or two...or even four, if necessary, ought to do it. Divide the dough into two and roll into oblong loafs just the right size to fit into your pans.

Cover the loaves with some greased saran wrap and let them rise until the dough peeks above the rim of the pan (probably about a half hour or so, depending on how warm the spot is). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When ready to bake, put the loaves in, and then turn the oven down to 375 degrees. My oven tends to be a little hotter than my mother's so I knocked it down a few degrees. Bake for 25-30 minutes, till golden brown. Pop one out onto a cooling rack and tap it on the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's done. If not, pop back in and bake a little longer.

Attempt to let the loaves cool before cutting and consuming, but I won't tell anyone if one of the loaves barely survives five minutes out of the oven. It happens. Jam helps.

Taco Soup

This recipe is an amalgamation of three different taco soup recipes, therefore, I might as well call this one my own (I need just a little ego stroking today, thank you very much). It has quickly become one of our favorite and quick soups.

1 onion, diced
1/2 green pepper
ground beef
1 can kidney beans + liquid
1 can corn + 1/2 liquid
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
taco seasonings (One of those packets or your own favorite combination. Ours is chili powder, cumin, mustard, paprika, and a little Mrs. Dash (she's like my third grandma).)
tortilla chips
shredded cheese
sour cream

Saute one onion and half a green pepper (optional) in a little Worcestershire sauce. Add ground beef and brown. Add taco seasonings. Add beans, corn, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Simmer until ready to serve. In your own bowl, sprinkle on some shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, and a dollop of sour cream.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This probably isn't a healthy soup but my excuse is that it will help us with some additional padding in the cold winter season. I even lowered the excessive amount of butter from the original recipe (you're welcome)!

1-2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked with a dash of chili powder (either microwave or cook in a separate pan)
1 Onion
1 green pepper (optional)
1 pint Half & Half (I hope to experiment with milk someday, I'll let you know how that turns out)
1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
4 c. chicken broth (bullion granules + water works fine)
1 c. cheese (plus some for garnish)
1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes (with or w/out chilis)
1 can corn, drained (or use frozen)
1-2 cans beans of your choice, drained and rinsed (we like black beans and kidney beans)
Taco Seasonings (packet or homemade - chili powder, cumin, paprika, mustard, Mrs. Dash)
Sriracha chili paste (for my slightly masochistic husband)

Saute onion and green pepper in butter. Add Half & Half. Slowly add in and WHISK flour. Add chicken broth, cheese, cooked chicken, tomatoes, and seasonings. Rinse beans in a collander and add. Add drained corn. Season with taco seasonings and Sriracha (optional) to make it as hot as you dare.

Serve with tortilla chips, a little more cheese, and a small dollop of sour cream to cool it down.

Smart shopping

I am the wife of an MD/PhD student who earns a small stipend and a stay-at-home-mother of two small children. According to the US government standards, we are considered to be below the poverty line but I think we live quite comfortably, eat very well, and the only current debt we have is our home mortgage. We shop quite frugally and manage to stretch our dollars quite far!

If it’s alright, I’d like to pass some of my frugal grocery shopping tips on to you. You can also learn more by just Googling for more frugal shopping and even frugal cooking tips. Lots of people write blogs and websites devoted to shopping on tight budgets. Heck! I’m still learning and I'd love to hear from others what sort of money-saving techniques you use when grocery shopping as well as favorite blogs on the subject!

Price per ounce – shop with a calculator to figure out which package of vegetables will give you the most for your money. Sometimes, beggars can’t be choosers and one must buy the store-brand if it’s the cheapest. Some store-brands are even better than the name-brand!

Shop for sales and keep track of prices with a small notebook in your purse so you can record what a good price is when you come across it. Look at the store ads, clip coupons. Stock up on things to keep in your pantry you know you use often rather than waiting till you run out. Peanut butter on sale? Stock up if you eat it often. Mayonnaise? Pickles? Cereal? We're also in the market for a chest freezer so we can stock up on awesome priced frozen vegetables and meat.

Buy some items in bulk – dried beans, brown rice, sugar, flour, oatmeal, etc. It’s intimidating but a big bag of brown rice is a smarter choice than little boxes of minute rice and stores well in five-gallon buckets in my food storage room. Brown rice is also healthier and fills you up more than white rice. And you don’t have to be a family of four or more just to buy in bulk. Even my husband did it when he was a bachelor!

Food storage – Yes, I’m LDS. I grew up learning about food storage. It’s not just about being prepared for a natural disaster or job loss but stocking up on things you eat when on sale to easily have on hand. I stock up on canned food, boxed cereal, etc. Anything that has a good shelf life and that we eat often, I’ll buy when I can. I’ve also learned from my mother’s mistake of buying red wheat that she never could really use. Don't buy in bulk what you just won't eat!

My laundry/food storage room

Make dinners from scratch – I must confess that Stouffers lasagna is quite tasty but it’s expensive and actually not all that healthy (too much cheese also gives my nursing infant painful gas, anyway). I can also make a bigger pan of healthier lasagna for less than those frozen meals cost. Left overs are also just fine in our house. My husband made a huge batch of chili this weekend in our stockpot. He doesn’t mind eating it for lunch almost every day this week. And no, he’s not that gassy because his body is used to eating beans and able to digest them. (Besides, if you know anything about my sense of humor, I think farts are funny!)

Gardening – I can’t talk about this one but someday, I’ll find my green thumbs and figure out how to cultivate a garden of fresh fruits and veggies and learn how to preserve them for the winter months.

The list can go on and perhaps I'll write again in the future about smart shopping but this is what I've come up with in just one morning while my daughter watches some Cailou.

Eggs Marshall

Sorry it's been a while. I've never been good at updating this ol' thing. And now there's a new addition to the family! We shall call him Bubs! We're all still adjusting and I'm slowly working my way back into the kitchen and away from the quick-fix box meals. (There's nothing bad with Hamburger Helper, just a little boring.) Today, I shall introduce you to Eggs Marshall (picture unavailable since the nursing mommy scarfed it up too fast, but here's another cool picture which is still somewhat relevant to today's post).

(Man, I wish I could get my hunnybun to wear a fedora!)

I got the simple recipe/seasoning tip from the show "How I Met Your Mother". Lily adds just a couple of squirts of Italian Dressing to scrambled eggs and bada-bing! you've got Eggs Marshall. Quite tasty! You can adjust the amount of dressing depending on the taste buds of the consuming connoisseur.

Heavenly Angel Food Cake

I had a plethora of eggs in my fridge this weekend. I also had a church activity coming up where I was to bring Angel Food Cake. I must admit that I've never really liked Angel Food Cake. Why? I think the store-bought version(s) taste and feel like stale Styrofoam. I've now changed my mind. I DO like Angel Food Cake! BUT only if it's homemade. Yeah, call me stuck-up and picky. Then, try this recipe and you'll side with me. (Recipe carefully selected from allrecipes.com and personally tested in my own kitchen.) And it really isn't that hard if you follow these recipe directions closely.

10-12 egg whites (1 & 1/2 c. egg whites)
1 & 1/4 c. confectioner's sugar
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar

Put mixing bowl and flat beater in fridge. Meanwhile, sift confectioner's sugar and flour together three times with a sifter (give those hands a nice workout). Set aside.

Separate eggs until you have 1 & 1/2 cups (this is where the amount of eggs varies and a clear glass measuring cup works best). Save yolks for scrambled eggs or custard. Throwing such delicacies away would be such a waste!

Pull out chilled mixing bowl and beater and add egg whites into the bowl. Add cream of tartar, vanila extract, and salt. Beat on high speed (8-10 works best on a Kitchenaid stand mixer) while gradually adding 1 cup regular sugar. Continue mixing on high until stiff peaks form and the batter doesn't fall off the beater when it is lifted up. You want it stiff but DON'T OVERDO IT or else the cake will turn out tough. This step takes about 7-9 minutes. Next, GENTLY fold sifted flour and sugar mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, into the stiff egg white mixture. DO NOT OVER-MIX! GENTLY spoon into UN-GREASED angel food cake pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove any air pockets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan onto a cooling rack and cool completely before attempting to remove the cake from the pan.

Serve with a lovely dollop of whipped topping and fresh strawberries. Goober has also grown out of her egg allergy and therefore may partake of this sweet delicacy. YAY!

Not yo mama's Enchilada's

Then again, they might be yo mama's enchilada's. (If so, she totally rocks and we should be friends!) I just thought that sort of title sounds cool too, hehe! Make them mild, medium, spicy, green or red. Whatever floats your boat, tops your ice cream, bakes your burrito. Eh, you get the point. You can also use ground beef, chicken, or (my fav) leftover steak.

1 cup +/- cooked rice
1 can refried beans
1 to 2 cups cooked meat of your choice, cubed or shredded
1 to 2 cups cheese (there is no such thing as too much of a good thing...sometimes)
2 small cans (or one big can) Enchilada sauce (Old Elpaso is a really good brand)
Package of soft tortilla shells

Prepare a 13x9 casserole dish with some pan (from experience, don't miss this step). Stir together rice, one small can (or half of big can) of sauce, one cup of cheese, and meat in a metal bowl (from experience again, trust me when I suggest a metal bowl for this because red enchilada sauce stains plastic bowls, #@$#%!). Smear a tortilla shell with one or two spoonfuls of beans. Top with two spoonfuls of meat mixture. Like this, m'dearie:


Roll up and place in dish. Repeat as many times as necessary until meat mixture is used up. Smother with rest of enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Ring the dinner bell to signal to the troops that dinner is on. Top with sour cream, lettuce, tomato, salsa, jalapenos, etc.

One-Skillet Wonder: Beef and Spinach Pasta

Goober tried spinach a few weeks ago. She didn't like it. Goober tried spinach again tonight. She liked it. A lot. What did I do? I found a recipe I found on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website (you must check that site out!) that is a pasta dish with spinach in it. Goober is a pasta-holic. I fooled her into eating spinach! Hah! It's an age-old mom trick to mix veggies into casserole dishes and it works most of the time into fooling children into eating their veggies.

I simplified the recipe (original recipe link) by skipping the oven part (saves power, an extra dirty dish, and time especially if you have a very hungry toddler) so that's why I call it a one-skillet wonder. My husband also didn't like the competition of the Cream of Mushroom soup with the tomato flavor so I think I'll either half the amount or leave it out next time (probably healthier to leave it out anyway). Your choice.

Beef and Spinach Pasta:

1 Pkg favorite noodles, cooked (rotini, spirals, bowtie, shells, etc.)
1 diced onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Ground beef
1 bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (again, your choice to 1/2 it or leave it out)
1 (10 oz pkg) chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
Healthy helping of Parmesan cheese
& Mozzarella cheese

Boil noodles according to package. Meanwhile, brown onion, garlic, and ground beef in large skillet. Drain excess grease (I use a spoon and tip the pan a little to ladle out some of it into a can I put in the freezer rather than dumping it down the sink.) Stir in spaghetti sauce, soup, and spinach. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Add cooked noodles. Stir well and then top with Mozzarella cheese.

Ring the dinner bell. Serve with a side of salad, perhaps some breadsticks or crusty french bread. Voila! It's like you just made a dish from the Olive Garden (but cheaper)!

P.S. The Domestic Engineer is on Facebook

Find me (The Domestic Engineer) on Facebook and push the like button! Spread the word and perhaps I'll be more motivated to update more often if I have more followers of the blog.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Domestic-Engineer/152327488135539?ref=ts

Homemade Potstickers

My hubby loves potstickers! So I learned how to make them for him. These take some prep time but are fun to make and quite delicious! They go well alongside some stir fry or as their own main dish with a little rice. This recipe comes from the back of the potsticker wrapper package.

1/4 ground pork (or you can go vegetarian and skip along)
1/2 cup cabbage, finely chopped
1/8 cup green onion, diced
1 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 TBSP dry white wine or vinegar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cornstarch
Dash of pepper

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl and place a small spoonful of the mixture in the center of one round potsticker wrap. Moisten the edge of the wrap with water on your fingers (not too much but not too little) to help stick together when you fold it up. Make a few pinches to help it stay together during the cooking process and to make it look fancy so people will be amazed by your cool handiwork (click on picture to see detail).


Heat 2 TBSP oil (or thin layer) in skillet over medium heat. Add potstickers and lightly brown the little sucker's bottoms (slight maniacal laugh, sorry, it's dark and stormy outside today). Pour in 1/4 cup of water (or less, too much and you'll have soggy butts, seriously) and cover the pan tightly with a lid. Turn the heat to low and cook until the water is gone.

Serve while hot on a platter with a small cup of soy sauce and enjoy!

Soft Breadsticks

I found a recipe to try for breadsticks from an old church cookbook that are both egg free as well as yeast free (for those of us too lazy to buy yeast or just too afraid of the little buggers and just lie with the first reason). They were tasty and a big hit alongside a bowl of baked potato soup so I must post them now!

Soft Breadsticks

1 - 1/2 cups flour (sometimes more if really gooey and hard to work with)
2 tsp sugar
1 - 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 milk
3 TBSP butter or margarine, melted

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add milk slowly and stir to form a soft dough. On a floured surface (a cutting board or counter top) knead the dough gently 3-4 times.

Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by pouring in the 3 TBSP melted butter. Place the dough in the middle of the dish and press it into a rectangle shape (NOT to the edges of the dish, mind you) a little less than 1/2 inch thick or so. (This is where I wish I was a good photographer and took pictures of my work in the kitchen like PW does. Anyone want that job? I can only pay you in food though. And now back to the recipe!) Brush some of the excess butter that you'll see on the sides over the top of the dough. Cut into breadsticks however you like with a pizza cutter and sprinkle with cheese such as Parmesan (a little more, more, MORE! You can't go wrong with more cheese).

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown (keep an eye on them). These are best served warm on the side of a creamy soup or spaghetti. (Warning: the amount made was easily scarfed up by two adults and one toddler-sized Goober who ate like an adult tonight. Double the recipe if necessary. You have been warned.

Did ya miss me?! PW's Berry Cobbler

I'm back! Alas, moving is quite trying on a domestic engineer like myself but we are now settled into our new house in Iowa (gonna miss Utah, sigh) and about to start the adventure that is called medical school. So to celebrate my return I'll share my favorite cobbler recipe with you! Since it is the season for harvesting many fruits, this is a very tasty treat to reward everyone's hard labor. I've tried this recipe twice so far from the Pioneer Woman (link to actual recipe with pictures if wanted, warning, may cause drooling) with blueberries and raspberries and soon I'll try it with peaches. I'm drooling over my keyboard in anticipation! This is so simple to make and my Goober can have it because it contains no eggs!

Pioneer Woman's Berry Cobbler

1 stick butter, melted
1-¼ cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour*
1 cup milk
2 cups fresh or frozen berries of your choice

Mix together 1 cup sugar and flour and whisk in milk. Pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Pour the batter into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle berries over the top of the batter evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. Keep a close eye on it as sometimes it only needs 45 minutes. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

Don't forget to serve it warm with a dollop of whipped cream or even ice cream! You will be worshiped forever...or at least until it's gone and it's time to make more!

* To make your own self-rising flour, shift together 6 cups flour, 3 tbsp baking powder, and 1 tbsp salt. Store whatever you don't use in an airtight container.

Easy Bake Salmon

Wow, I update this thing so often, bwahahaha! Things have been hectic around here but here's a good Salmon recipe that we've enjoyed so much that we've had it twice in the past month. So if you like fish and have access to some salmon (thanks dad!) you've got to try this recipe. And the house didn't smell too fishy afterward (though my black cherry vanilla sentsy may have helped).

Easy Bake Salmon (although, I suggest not using an easy bake oven)


2 fillets of Salmon
1/4 cup soy sauce (we get some good stuff at the Korean market and it's worth it, trust me)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ginger (ground is just fine)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
a clove or two of garlic (minced or sliced thinly)

Mix and marinate the fillets for about 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending on how much time you have. Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes or until nice and flaky. Prepare a side of spinach or other tasty green veggie, a baked potato, and some bread and you just might have a gourmet meal in under an hour to impress your hunny with!

Two renditions of the same recipe: Pseudo Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole OR Turkey Stuffing Casserole

Forgive me. It has been a month of illness. But I am now back in the kitchen with an easy peasy casserole to share with you! (Recipe courtesy of recipe swap for Enrichment night.)

Pseudo Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole


2 chicken breasts, microwaved and cubed
Leftover ham, cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2-3/4 can milk
1 box Stove Top chicken stuffing
Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Layer chicken and ham cubes in 9x13 dish. Layer on some mozzarella cheese. Mix together soup, milk, and stuffing in bowl. Spoon onto ham, chicken, and cheese. Layer on some more mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until bubbly and warm. Set the table and proceed to snarf it down!

Alternate rendition: use cubed turkey instead of ham and chicken and use cream of mushroom soup instead of cream of chicken soup. Add in some corn and green beans or other good sounding veggies as well. Follow all other directions and viola! I have no name for it yet though, oh well. Turkey stuffing casserole?

Valentine's Dinner for Hunnybun - Chicken Chalupas

This is a casserole my mother made often for my family and also happens to be one of hunnybun's favorites so I made it this evening for him for Valentine's Day/Weekend. I'm also in the midst of making homemade oreo cookies. But first:

1-2 chicken breast, cubed and cooked
1 chopped onion, sauteed
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 to 1 pint sour cream
2 cups cheese
1 can olives
1 can green chiles (optional)
Seasonings - Curry powder, Mrs. Dash, Lemon Pepper, Chile Powder
6-7 flour tortilla shells

Saute onions. Cook chicken cubes. Combine all ingredients in a bowl to make a lovely mix of flavors. Spread a dollop or two of the mixture onto the bottom of your 9x13 pan so the tortillas don't stick (or you can use Pam, w/e you prefer). Spread two spoonfuls into each tortilla shell, roll up, and place into the prepared pan. Be sure to save enough of the mixture to spread on top to keep shells from drying out and burning. Sprinkle some extra cheese on top, too. Mmmm, cheesey goodness! Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour until nice and bubbly. Devour! You can add some salsa and/or more sour cream on top/side if you'd like.

Chicken Divine Alternative Rock #1

Please forgive me for neglecting my duties. I'm just not a very good blogger. I can still have an E for effort, right? I introduce to you another tasty family casserole. I've had to adapt Hunnybun's family favorite Chicken Divine as we have recently discovered that Goober is allergic to eggs (nasty hives) and therefore must avoid them for two years, per pediatrician's advice, before she can try them again. Let's hope she can grow out of the allergy otherwise she'll miss out on a lot of tasty things in life such as cookies, cake, brownies, scrambled eggs, etc. That also means avoiding some salad dressings like Mayonnaise. Oh dear, mayonnaise is in daddy's Chicken Divine! Well, have no fear, we'll just oust from the recipe! I also experimented with a few other changes. We were also out of broccoli, the usually main and really only veggie in the dish. Have no fear, we'll just use some other veggies like oh, a can of corn and a can of green beans! (I got the idea to use green beans from my good friend and upstairs neighbor!)

2 cups cooked rice
1-2 chicken boobies, cut up and cooked (sorry, old habit from my Aunt Jane)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 large dollops of sour cream (hehe, I love the word 'dollop'!)
A splash or two of milk
Handful or two of cheese
1 can corn
1 can green beans
Curry powder (daddy would be heartbroken if forgotten)
Mrs. dash (addicting stuff)
Lemon pepper (also addictive)
Any other seasonings you see fit to use
More cheese

Layer the cooked rice into a 9x13 pan. Mix together soup, sour cream, milk, cheese, veggies, seasonings, and chicken in a bowl and spread over rice. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top (mustn't forget or else I'll be heartbroken). Warm in oven at 350 degrees until bubbly and cheese is gooey. Now devour the divine stuff!

P.S. I'm thinking about testing out a cake that substitutes bananas for eggs. I'll let you know how that goes. Course, I also promised you a chocolate chip cookie recipe. I must be punished. Guess that means I need to make them again soon.

Good 'ol Sunday Pot Roast in the Crock Pot

Time for a pot roast post. Say that ten times fast, I triple dog dare ya! I'm posting this on a Saturday so that, if you happen to be reading this now, you have time to make it tomorrow.

Ingredients:
Onion
Potatoes
Carrots
Celery
2 Garlic Cloves
Pork Loin
Seasonings (Mrs. Dash, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Salt, S&P)
1/2 to 1 cup Water


I didn't list how much of each ingredient to use because it really depends on the size of crowd/family you'll be feeding. Since it generally is just me, hunnybun, and the goobs, I chose a small pork loin out of the freezer, 5 potatoes, and a handful of leftover carrots and celery from the relish container that needed using up. It also depends on the size of your crock pot.

Defrost the pork loin in the microwave, if needed, while you prep/cut up the vegetables.


Layer about half of the potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion on the bottom of the pot. Add a little seasoning.


Place the pork loin on top and surround it with the rest of the vegetables. Add the water. Season with your choice of seasons. Put the lid on and turn the crock pot on to high for four hours or low for eight hours. (I generally choose high depending on the time of day.)


Cut into the middle to check for doneness (is that even a word?). If you like gravy, take some (or all) of the drippings left in the pot and mix with a packet of gravy (yup, I cheat sometimes, but that's okay).

Now, who wants to come over for dinner and do my dishes? :P


P.S. Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments.

Mom's Cheesy Potatoes

Alright, I'm back! Especially since I know I have at least one reader! (Comment to let me know if I have more.) Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! December is just such a crazy month with anniversaries, birthdays galore, and multiple family Christmas celebrations. And I survived it all this past year, whew! So please forgive me for slacking. I'm not giving up. I'm sure I've got plenty of recipes and sewing stuff to go to the moon and back, maybe even to Pluto!

So to appease you and buy back your attention and love, I shall share with you my favorite food - Cheesy Potatoes! I could eat these almost everyday (but definitely shouldn't). Take head to always make a 9x13 pan or more; never less or you'll regret it forever. They can be a side dish or main dish.

Mom's Cheesy Potatoes

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
2-3 cups shredded cheese
green onions, sliced finely (optional, for color)
1 bag frozen hashbrowns (shredded or cubed)
Leftover ham, cubed (optional)

Mix it all together in a large bowl and spread into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until it's all bubbly and you can't control your drooling any longer.

Leave me a comment if you have any requests for certain recipes and I'll see what I can do!