Sorry!!!

Hey, if anyone is still paying attention to this. I'm super sorry I haven't been posting lately. I will catch up soon, I promise. Still cooking (not as much as I'd like) but haven't had time to post. I have lots of yummy dishes to catch you up on!

Kara

My apologies

I've been distracted by Google+... be back tomorrow with the recap on our meal tonight. It was good... 4 stars from the husband :)

Baked Mac & Pimento Cheese

Hello!

So last night we had BBQ Chicken and Mac & Pimento Cheese. I'm just sharing the side dish because Ethan made the chicken. He marinated it in Sweet Baby Rays and EVOO then grilled it (just in case you were wondering). Now, on to the Baked Mac & Pimento Cheese. What is a Pimento, you might ask? According to Wikipedia, a pimento is a large, red, heart-shaped variety of chili pepper. To be honest, I bought a jar of diced pimento, having no idea what it actually was. I recommend finding out what things are before buying them but in this case, it worked out just fine.

Baked Mac & Pimento Cheese

(Brought to you by 7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies)

Prep: 20 min     Cook time: 20-25 min, plus pasta

Yields 12 Servings (I'd say closer to 6 or 8 unless you only eat really small servings)

Ingredients

8 oz. elbow macaroni

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups skim milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

8 oz. shredded 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

1 4 oz. jar diced pimentos, drained

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook macaroni according to directions; drain. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter on medium. Gradually whisk in flour until smooth; cook, whisking constantly 1 minute.

3. Gradually whisk in milk, salt, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Cook, whisking constantly, 3-5 minutes or until thickened (Kara Note: if it isn't thickening, stop whisking for a minute to give it a chance to heat up and continue whisking)

4. Stir in cheddar cheese and pimentos and cook until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in pasta. Spoon mixture into a 9x13 baking dish coated in cooking spray.

5. Stir together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow dish (Kara Note: I did this with my hands in a bowl). Sprinkle over mixture.

6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

And again I'm reminded I need to clean our oven.

By the time I had mixed everything together and poured it into the 13x9 pan, I was already pretty impressed with it. I'm standing there thinking wow, I just made homemade mac & cheese. Not too shabby.

I am thinking that I might prefer bread crumbs with a little more to them. The fine bread crumbs from the store worked out okay but it's almost too fine. I don't think I would put any effort into changing this though. It was great as is. The cayenne pepper and pimentos add a little kick to heat up the mac & cheese. It's a nice twist on a classic. Two thumbs up from me and Ethan thought it was...

I hope you all enjoy your evening!

Hmm.. I wonder what is on the menu tomorrow...

Broccoli Chicken Parm

Hello! Welcome back. Sorry I didn't post this on Thursday when we cooked it but it's been a busy couple of days. And we didn't eat until 8:30pm that night. I'm currently blogging during the Emmy's. I think this is my favorite awards show because it is actually funny and fun to watch. Anyways, back to the beginner dinner.

On Thursday, we had Broccoli Chicken Parm which was okay. Not terribly great but edible. I'm thinking this isn't one where you need the recipe because I wouldn't make it again. It was quick and easy but I reheated some today for lunch and it was bad. It was tasting pretty gross. Those leftovers will definitely be thrown out.

Husband rating:

In case you are confused, the thumb is sideways, not up or down, but sideways. :)

In conclusion, this isn't worth sharing.

hehe

Tomorrow

Look for some updates tomorrow. I will tell you about our Thursday dinner of Broccoli Chicken Parm and whatever it is we are cooking tomorrow (I can't remember!)

Until then...

:)

Flank Steak, Corn & Sweet Potato Fries

This is probably one of our favorite meals. It's pretty simple and absolutely delicious! There's no real recipe for this, you don't need one. You do need a grill though. Get a Flank Steak, Corn and Sweet Potatoes from the grocery store (number of corn on the cob and sweet potatoes will correlate to how many people are eating, we got 2). You will also need soy sauce, extra virgin olive oil, brown sugar and minced garlic. 

Preparation: We were home over lunch so the husband marinaded the steak. First, score the steak. Get a large ziplock bag, put in the steak, and add some soy sauce, extra virgin olive oil, brown sugar and minced garlic. Close the bag and make sure the steak is fully coated in the mixture. Stick it in the fridge.

Now, in the evening, fire up the grill. We have a charcoal grill that Ethan loves. It wasn't as fun to use today because it's overcast and a little too chilly for me to sit outside. It looks like it could rain any second... no fun!

While the grill is heating up, preheat the oven to 350. Cut up the sweet potatoes in wedges and put them on a baking sheet. Dribble them with oil and put them in when the oven is preheated. Next, put the steak and then the corn (in the husk) on the grill. Note: You can pull the corn husk back and pull out the strings then pull the husk back up.

Sweet potatoes wedges! (hmm our oven might need cleaning)

Everything should be ready in about 30-35 minutes, the sweet potato fries take 30-35, steak is about 20 (10 minutes per side) and the corn takes 10 minutes . The corn takes a little less time so wait 10 minutes after you put the steak on then add the corn. When it's all done, cut the steak into strips. And it's so awesome, I hope you try it!

Yummmm!!

On a side note, I was told by some people at work (ANNE!) that I need to include a grade on the meal from my husband, Ethan. Well, since Ethan pretty much did this meal (and wouldn't even let me cut up the sweet potato - I worry him when I use large knives), I'd say he'd give it a...

I've also decided to give you an idea of how much meals cost. This one was $16.25, almost $15 of that was the steak. We already had the corn so that would be an additional expense. I will also add to my past posts what the meals cost. But maybe tomorrow, because it's late!

See you soon...

Bow-Tie Pasta with Winter Squash and Walnuts

Meal Rating: Mediocre

Tonight's dinner was decent, not great but okay. We had Bow-Tie Pasta with Winter Squash and Walnuts, courtesy of "7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies". The timing on this meal is tricky. I have some ideas of how to improve the recipe as well. 

Bow-Tie Pasta with Winter Squash and Walnuts

Prep time: 15 minutes, plus standing time   Cook time: 7 minutes, plus pasta

Yields 6 servings



Ingredients

1 pound winter squash (such as butternut, acorn, or kabocha), peeled, seeded and cubed

1 pound bow-tie pasta

1 tablespoon Extra-virgin olive oil (or as Rachel Ray says EVOO)

2 cloves minced garlic

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to directions.

2. Microwave cubed squash with a little water on high for 5-6 minutes or until almost tender, let stand covered 3 minutes, drain and MASH.

3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add mashed squash, parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Toss the drained pasta with the squash mixture and serve topped with walnuts and Parmesan cheese.



Squash mixture.. I missed the part where you were supposed to mash it so I had to do it in the pan.

Tips: I'm thinking of an overhaul for the recipe. First of all, the squash (I used butternut) doesn't bring enough taste into the mix. It's a little on the bland side. I'm thinking sweet potatoes instead of squash. I'm going to have to try it and get back to you on this. I'm also thinking that parsley, salt and pepper are not enough. Some additional spice options would be dill, oregano, marjoram, basil. I love the walnuts and Parmesan cheese in this, add more! On a side note, I've never peeled and seeded a squash before. It was interesting. I used a carrot peeler and it seemed like it might be the right tool. It was pretty in the bowl...



As far as the timing of this, I reversed the first 2 steps when I typed it out because it makes more sense to start the pasta first. But you should have your squash already cubed at that point. Just get your water boiling first. I know my stove top takes a while to boil water. Make sure the pasta is in the pot before you start heating the pan with the oil. Wait a few minutes between this because the oil pan will not take long. Mash the squash (or sweet potato) while you are waiting. I think these changes will help make this meal better.

Until tomorrow...









Beef and Bean Chili Verde

Well, well, well. Tonight was super exciting! We left work at 5pm and went grocery shopping. I had my list all ready (and sorted in the appropriate order in which we would be walking through the store). I really thought this trip was going to be super expensive since we were shopping for 2 weeks worth of meals. Our last trip, just for last week's meals (as well as some basics that we needed at home) was $120. This time, $140! For 2 weeks! How sweet is that? Next time, I plan to be a little more prepared and print some coupons beforehand. We just have to get a working printer in our house. Mine needs ink and we can't find the cord for Ethan's printer (Ethan = husband). Oh well, we can save even more next time! I will add, that if you need chicken breasts, go to Kroger, it's on sale right now.

We arrived home and I got to work. Cutting up veggies and getting the ingredients together. I also rearranged our food storage which is on a small shelving unit in our breakfast nook. I can't wait to have a house with some serious storage. On tonight's agenda was Beef and Bean Chili Verde, brought to you by "7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies". Do believe the name because it is Chili, even if it doesn't look like traditional chili.

Ingredients

1 pound 93-95% lean ground beef

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

6 cloves of minced garlic

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 12-16 oz. jar salsa verde or taco sauce

1/4 cup water

1 15 oz. can pinto beans, rinsed

For cornbread: Jiff Corn Muffin Mix, 1 egg, 1/3 cup milk

Directions

Before beginning, prepare the cornbread mix. Follow the instructions on the box of Jiff Corn Muffin Mix (cornbread instructions are on the side of the box). Put the mix together with ingredients and pour into pan, set aside for now. Don't forget to preheat your oven. (I added some corn to my cornbread.. it was delicious!)

In a large pan; cook beef, red pepper, onion on medium heat for 6-8 minutes or until beef is no longer pink and vegetables are softened. Put the cornbread in the oven. Add minced garlic (if using a jar of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon = approx. 1 clove of garlic), chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper; cook for 15 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in salsa verde and water; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Stir in pinto beans and cook 1 minute or until heated.

Cornbread :) Yum

Looks a little funny during the cooking stage.. haha

Some tips: This is already a spicy meal but if you would like a little more kick, add some extra spices and throw in some cut up jalapeno. I am very sensitive to spice, so I tend to throw in what a recipe calls for, if not less. Ethan loves some kick though so I usually try not to cut out too much. This recipe is great, it's just the right amount of spice, I think. Suprisingly, I am also a very picky eater. I don't like peppers, tomatoes, mushroom and I would choose poultry over red meat, any day. However, this whole meal planning adventure, is helping me step out of the box. And not just once in a while, but every day!

Back to the tips (oops, sidetracked). Definitely get a high percentage lean ground beef. The other stuff might be cheaper but that means all the fat is going to cook off and you are left with a lot less meat then the better stuff. You can find the salsa verde with the salsa (just in case you've never bought any). As for the minced garlic, it's so easy to buy a jar of minced garlic and keep it in your fridge for another day. You can find that with the spices in your grocery store.

I hope you give this recipe a shot, it was very good, especially if you like a little something spicy!

Don't hesitate to comment if you have questions! (I was watching TV while writing this so I hope it makes sense) 

Until tomorrow....  :)

Last night's Beef and Wild Rice Medley

Hello! Sorry I missed posting about this last night but I forgot :)

Well, we had a pretty darn good meal of Beef and Wild Rice Medley thanks to "Fast Fixes with Mixes". I love this book because most dishes take 30 minutes or less and it mixes prepackaged foods with fresh fruits and veggies. That makes life a whole lot easier. Most of them only use 1 or 2 items of prepackaged foods so if you have an aversion to that, it isn't used to an extreme.

So, here it is:

Beef and Wild Rice Medley

Prep: 5 min.    Cook: 40 min.

Yeilds 4 servings

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenee pepper

1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/4 cup julienned green pepper

2 1/4 cups water

1 package (6 oz.) long grain and wild rice mix (Uncle Bens)

1 small tomato, chpped

2 tablespoons chopped green onion



chop chop chop

Husband Helper!

Directions

1. In a small bowl, compine the garlic powder, thyme and cayenne. Sprinkle over beef.

2. In a large saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook beef in oil until no longer pink; drain. Stir in celery and green pepper; cook 2 minutes longer or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the water and rice mix with contents of seasoning packet.

3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 23-28 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in tomato; heat through. Sprinkle with green onion.

Finished!

Some tips: Soak the meat in a brine (salt and water) solution to soften it beforehand. We also cut off the fat from the meat. Slice some extra green pepper and celery if you have need for them in the next couple days. Also, this recipe calls for 1/4 each of green pepper and celery, we increased that to 1/2 cup for some extra veggies. If you don't like tomato, like me, leave it out! We didn't do this and I realized afterward that we very easily could have left it off and Ethan could have added some to just his. Also, if you like a little something extra, maybe some spice, dice up a hotter pepper and throw it in with the green pepper and celery.

I hope you enjoy this meal, if you make it. We sure did :)

No cooking tonight

Well, it's Friday and we had a meal planned but we ended up going out. I had a pork tenderloin sandwich and mac and cheese (beer cheese if you want to be technical). It was pretty good. There were also some spicy cheese bites invovled in this meal which were awesome!

So, the next meal (hopefully tomorrow) will be Beef & Wild Rice Medley. Stay tuned!

Maple-Glazed Chicken with Cranberry Arugula Rice

Well, the kitchen is a complete disaster but it was well worth it because that was delicious. My husband gave it an A which is usually a very good thing. I have some tips for making it so I'm going to start by giving the recipe:

Maple-Glazed Chicken with Cranberry Arugula Rice (7-day Menu Planner for Dummies)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 cups grilled, sliced chicken breast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 6-oz package (5 to 6 cups) fresh baby arugula or spinach

1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Directions

• Cook brown rice! Takes about 30 minutes.
• Melt butter in a large (and I do mean large) nonstick skillet on medium. Stir in syrup and cranberries; cook for 1 minute. Add chicken, salt and pepper; cook 1 minute or until hot. Remove chicken using slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add rice and toss to coat; remove from heat.
• Toss in arugula (into pan with rice); spoon rice mixture onto platter. Top with chicken and cheese. Serve immediately.

Okay so now some notes on preparing this meal. It sort of turns out to be a salad with chicken, rice, cranberries and cheese. It is very tasty even though these are things I would never have thought to put together. I think that's what makes it so good. I need to think outside the box a little more when it comes to food. We fall into comfortable patterns that become boring which then drives us to pick up food after work just to mix things up. It's a vicous cycle.

I would definitely recommend an extra large skillet because once you put in the arugula, it becomes a bit tight. I used spinach instead of arugula because I couldn't find any. Also, I threw in a little bit more syrup and that worked out well since it was all gone by the end. For the grilled chicken, I ended up using some left over rotisserie chicken from Tuesday. I wouldn't recommend this. The chicken was all shredded and there were too many small pieces that I couldn't get it all out when the recipe told me to. If you don't want to grill the chicken yourself, you should be able to find pre-grilled chicken cut into pieces at the grocery store. I looked this time but couldn't find it. It's usually with the prepackaged deli meats. If you have trouble, I would just ask your deli counter.

Don't forget to cook the rice first. Being such a beginner, I've never actually cooked brown rice before (probably because I use white). I hadn't realized how long it takes! But the timing worked out ok because I started the skillet right before the rice was finished. Also, as for the cheese, I'm thinking you can do any kind of crumbled cheese you want (like feta). The gorgonzola was great though.

I didn't have a neat platter or anything so I used a pyrex 9x13 pan to put it all in.

Interesting looking right?

The final product

Bear was waiting by to clean up my mess

 

The aftermath

 All in all, I'd say this was a great night cooking!

Week 1

Hello! Welcome to my new blog. I've started a couple blogs before but they never seem to pan out. This time, I have a direction and goal in mind. My husband and I have decided to start planning our meals out a week in advance. I thought this might be a good opportunity to start from scratch (pun intended) with a new blog.
My cooking adventures have been limited in truth. There wasn't much cooking in my house when I was younger so I'm still a beginner. I do enjoy cooking but sometimes it can feel more like a chore. Spicing up the menu seems like a good way to make cooking more fun. I have many recipe books and most recently got a book called "7-Day Menu Planning For Dummies". My husband and I want to start saving money and eating less junk (ie, fast food). I think by planning out our meals weekly, we can save money and time at the grocery store. Plus, I can look up coupons for items on my list. I know this isn't a novelty, plenty of people plan their meals. We tried it for 1 week last year and it worked really well, we just forgot to keep going. :) This time, we're sticking to it. So... here it goes.

Week 1, Day 1 (yesterday): We had Chicken Pot Pie which worked out pretty well. I ended up getting a rotisserie chicken from the store which I then pulled apart to put in the mixture. That way, it was precooked and didn't take much time. We used frozen veggies we had in our fridge too which didn't end up working out all that well because we had a lot of green stuff and nothing else. Definitely next time, I want some carrots or something. The meal was relatively quick, about 30 minutes which was great because we had already been to the grocery store after work and were tired. The recipe came from the For Dummies book I was talking about earlier. If there is any interest, I will put the recipe up on here. Just let me know. I'm unsure of how much to put up here. I think my plan will be to put really awesome recipes in the blog when I come across them.

Week 1, Day 2: Our dinner this evening was a crockpot dinner. It came from the book that came with our crockpot (lol). It was gumbo and I have to say I was a little disappointed. The recipe wasn't very well written out and I was unsure of the instructions. Like most crockpot meals, I just assumed that everything could be thrown in because the recipe really didn't give enough information. I thought wrong. There was rice on the list and the gumbo mixture ended up really, REALLY mushy. We basically had slop for dinner. Next time, if we try this again, I think I will wait to cook the rice when the rest is done. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm wondering if I can adapt this recipe to work outside of the crockpot. Stay tuned for that, we'll see.

That's it for now. Nothing too exciting so far but I'm hopeful for tomorrow's dinner.