Sloppy Joes

This is how my mom taught me to make sloppy joes. I don't like it from a package mix.

1 lb ground beef
onion
garlic
8 oz can tomato sauce
10 3/4 oz Chicken gumbo soup
Buns

Fry up hamburger with chopped onion (I used about 1/2 of a medium onion) and I put one clove of garlic in the garlic press. After, hamburger done, add the tomato sauce and gumbo soup and simmer for a few minutes until thickened. Serve on Hamburger buns and enjoy!

Turkey and Rice

No pictures today and simple dinner tonight. I put a small turkey breast in my 9x13 pan and put 3 big pats of butter and some sprinkles of Thyme on it, covered it with aluminum foil and put in the oven for an hour. Then I made a batch of rice. Simple but yummy....Turkey and rice. I should've made up some vegetables, I know....but tonight I was lazy. The family is just lucky that we didn't have frozen pizza tonight! Last night we had chicken nuggets. I need to start cooking again....but it is nice to have some lazy days.

Orange Raspberry Julius

1 can orange juice (I used pulp free)
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar (adjust to taste)
little container of raspberries
ice cubes

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Yummy Lasagne

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law Hannah and I think I already put it on this blog but it is so yummy I had to put it up again. I like this recipe because the noodles cook right inside the dish and I don't have to precook them before I assemble it. I used to hate that with my previous recipe's. It would take so long to cook the noodles separate and then assemble the lasagne. Anyway, this is is a easy yet delicious recipe! I modified this one a little, Hannah uses sliced mozzerella cheese, I used grated for this one.

1 lb hamburger
1/2 onion, chopped
28 oz can Hunts spaghetti sauce plus 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
9-10 raw Lasagne noodles (I used American Beauty)
2 cups grated mozzerella cheese
8 oz container of plain yogurt
16 oz container of cottage cheese
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1 cup water

Brown hamburger with onion. Add spaghetti and tomato sauce. Set aside. In separate bowl, stir yogurt, cottage cheese and parmesan cheese together. In 9 x 13 pan layer: first, a little bit of meat sauce, then raw noodles, cheese mixture on top of noodles, then sprinkle with mozzerella cheese, then a lot of meat sauce, cheese mixture, mozzerella cheese. Then pour 1 cup of water over all of lasagne mostly in the corners of pan. Cover with aluminum foil and put in 400F oven for 30 minutes. Then, reduce heat to 350F and take off aluminum foil and cook for another 30 minutes. Take out of oven and let set for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Clam Chowder

I modified this recipe from my Better Homes and Garden recipe book. It is delicious on a cold day like today!

Clam Chowder

2 cans (6.5 oz) minced clams
2 slices of bacon
2 1/2 cups finely chopped, peeled potatoes (about 3 medium)
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup half and half, or light cream
2 T all-purpose flour

1. Chop clams, reserving juice; set clams aside. Drain canned clams, reserving juice. If necessary, add water to reserved clam juices to equal 1 cup. Set juice mixture aside.

2. In a large saucepan cook bacon till crisp. Remove bacon, reserving 1 T drippings in pan. Drain bacon on paper towels. Crumble bacon and set aside.

3. Stir reserved clam juice mixture, potatoes, onion, bouillon granules, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and pepper into saucepan. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or till potatoes are tender. With the back of a fork, mash potatoes slightly against the side of the pan.

4. Stir together milk, half and half and flour; add to potato mixture. Cook and stir till slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in clams. Return to boiling; reduce heat. cook for 1-2 minutes more. Sprinkle each serving with some crumbled bacon. Makes about 7 cups or 4 main-dish servings.

So I used a can of chicken broth instead of the chicken granules and that worked too. I didn't do the bacon in the pan, I just microwaved two pieces of bacon. I also didn't reserve the clam juice, I just added the liquid, potatoes, onions and spices together and cooked it till the potatoes were tender. Next time I probably won't put as many onions in because my kids don't like them but I thought it tasted just fine! Enjoy!

Chicken Rolls (Chicken Packets)

Chicken Packets or sometimes called Chicken Empanadas are one of my family's favorite meals. Here's the recipe:

2 packages crescent rolls (tonight I used Pillsbury, yum!)
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can Costco chicken
1 small can olives (optional)
1 small can mushrooms (optional)
4 T melted butter
breadcrumbs
1 can cream of chicken soup

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together in a bowl the chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, olives, and mushrooms. Unroll crescents. Put a spoonful of mixture and roll up. Dip in butter and roll in breadcrumbs. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until brown. Heat cream of chicken soup with a little milk to make a gravy. Serve over the top of the empanadas.

Yum! Enjoy!

Shredded Roast Beef

It has taken me 17 1/2 long years of marriage to learn how to cook a pot roast! On Christmas Eve, I looked up on the Internet how to cook a roast and it turned out fabulous! So today, I thought I would try it again and see if I could get the same result and it worked. I am so excited! So this is what I did: I took a skillet and heated EVOO in it and then put the roast in the skillet. I browned all the sides and then put it in my 9 x 13 pan. I cut up a whole onion and used my garlic press on two cloves of garlic and put it on the roast. Then I added some water and beef bullion cubes and covered my pan with aluminum foil. I baked it in the oven at 300F for 4 hours and every once in awhile, I would take the roast out and baste it so it would stay moist.

I know it sounds like a weird dinner but I have a picture of what I had for dinner tonight; I shredded up the roast beef and made a sandwich which was soooo good. And we had Rice-A-Roni and carrots. The carrots are a favorite of my kids.

I cut the carrots up and boil them on the stovetop for a few minutes till they are tender. Then I drain the water and add butter and brown sugar. Yum! So that is what we ate for dinner tonight. I plan on using the leftover roast beef for more recipes and hopefully I can blog about them soon.