Burritos???

Ok so here's the deal.... I love mexican food. Notice I said I, and there is no I in team which as you guessed means I am the only one in my family that loves, loves, LOVES mexican food. Sad isn't it?? Oh well, you gotta work with what you got and well I need to find a way to get my foodie fix without it causing disturbance in the family force!! And it would help if it didn't cost me an arm and a leg too ya know??

What I normally do is shamefully buy those .89 frozen burritos and stash them in the freezer till it get the itch for mexican food and then devour them!! I know they're bad for me, I know they are loaded with umpteeen grams of fat and gazoodles of chemicals and such but a girls gotta get her foodie fix right??

So I've had this idea...ya know the one where I just whip them up myself and well I'm gonna jump in feet first and give it a whirl.

I've looked all over the web for recipes and ideas and decided it is time!!!

And in true nature of myself I am going about this adventured as cheap as possible and will be using some leftovers and hoping that it turns out fantastic.

So here is what I did:

Last week I bought some super thin sliced beef steaks and cooked them up to make Steak and cheese subs the other day. My kids were happy just to eat the steak as is with a side of fries thank you very much. The hubs and I went all in and had steak and cheese subs with all the fixings- Lettuce tomato and onion on his, Lettuce tomato, onion, grilled mushrooms and grilled onions on mine- both with a side of fries- SUPER YUM!!! We'd never bought this kind of steak before and took a gamble on it working well as steak subs. Definately something we will do again. It will be added to the menu list!!

But I've got leftover cooked thin sliced steaks!! Not enough for a whole meal for all 5 of us, not even enough for lunch for the 3 kids and myself but too much to just forget about so I saved it till I could come up with a way to use it up.

Also last week the kids asked for tacos/nachos- not normal mexican fare but Americanized Box Kit kind of tacos- which is essentially the only "mexican" type food they will eat.  I hurridly picked up a couple boxes of taco shells while I was out shopping with the littles and then booked it home to get dinner on the table. Turns out those boxes of taco shells that I thought were a bit pricier than when I bought them the last time we had tacos at home like 8 months ago- see told you mexican was a not a fave here. Well it turns out they were pricier for a reason and the reason is I bought a whole dinner kit not just a box of taco shells. So yep I've got the dinner kit stuff leftover ( the seasoning and the salsa pack)

Enter: My idea for some DIY Beef and bean burritos

So today I've got 1/2 pound of pinto beans cooking in a semi big pot, I've also cut up the leftover steak into smallish pieces and threw it into the pot as well. I added a bit of salt and a good couple of grinds of the pepper shaker and I'm going to let it cook until the beans are good and soft, the beef is shredded and the water is all but gone, once the water level drops to just about nothingness I'll add a finely chopped onion and some finely chopped garlic and let it simmer and cook all together till everthing is done then I'll remove from the heat, add some of the taco seasoning and some of the salsa which is leftover from the kit and then I'll assemble me some beef, bean and cheese burritos. I can hardly wait!! And since I am the only one in this house who will eat such a thing I know I'll be adding some of these yummy burritos to the freezer for future lunches.

How awesome is that??? Leftovers used up, convience foods made for the freezer, and I'll be able to get my foodie fix!!

WIN, WIN, WIN!!! Or should that be YUM, YUM, YUM!!! ??

Probably a little of both!!!

Pizza Rolls and Life Lately

I really need to be more diligent on updating this blog.

First off Annie and Tiffani, the recipe I used for the pizza rolls can be found here:
PS I read this blog fairly regulary and have made several of her recipes all with great success!!

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/in-pursuit-of-the-perfect-pepperoni-roll/

Changes I made/Things I did  were:

I did not cut up pepperoni to add into the dough
I did not add mozzarella cheese to the dough
I used Mozzarella string cheese inside the roll
I used sliced pepperoni inside the roll - like 6 slices per roll but you could certainly add more to make up for what you didn't put in the dough at the begining
I did not use hot pepper rings- I made these for the kids, although I think it would be tasty if I were making them for myself :)
I completely enclosed the roll, so that nothing could ooze out- no pepperoni grease or melty cheese could get out, these were for school lunches after all and needed to be as neat as possible. Well I mean as neat as possible concidering they were going to school with an 11 yr old boy and a 7 yr old boy who in all defense are messy by nature so I had to try something to keep them clean right??? I enclosed them because I envisioned if I didn't - pepperoni grease on the outside, thus on their hands and where do they wipe their hands? YEP on their clothes so really I did it for me, to save me time, and headache trying to get grease out of their clothes. But do what you like as far as rolling them up, its a personal preference really. Or a sanity saver move, you decide, lol

I baked them on a silpat type mat  on a baking sheet till they were lightly golden brown.

They were great room temperature, great out of the oven and great frozen and thawed  and then room temp in lunch boxes. They were delicious, the bread was soft and they reheated well ( the hubs prefers them warmed as opposed to  room temp) WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN.....you get the idea :)

You could buy jarred sauce to serve with them but I make my own out of a .44 cent can of tomato paste, minced garlic a pinch of sugar, sprinkle of salt and PLENTY of yummy herbs - basil, oregano, italian seasoning, what ever you like. infact I was a die-hard Ragu girl and I haven't bought any of that in FOREVER, because hm is cheaper and better.

So there ya go, make some, I hope you like them!!!

And as far as Life Lately????? Its been alot of the usual around here. Last week I had a birthday on Wednesday. I do have to admit it was one of the best birthdays in a long time.  Tuesday Tiffani and Phoebe came down for a play date and lunch out. We went for mexican, it was YUM, complete YUM  and then we went shopping at the garden center. Tiffani bought a tree to mark a memorial for her son, whose birthday would have been Thursday, and I bought some houseplants -Shhhhh don't tell the hubs, he hates them, says  he thinks its my goal to make our house look like a rain forrest/Jungle, probably shouldn't tell him that I bought 3 and then saw another I wanted and Tiffani said Oh oh I have a big one of those at home I'll start you some, lol so don't tell ok because now I have another one coming :)  -  The big funny is I brought those plants home after our day out and planted them lickety split and then discarded the evidence in the garage- I totally intend on reusing those pots the plants came in, and its been over a week and he hasn't noticed  I even have them or if he has he hasn't said a thing.......
Tuesday night my bestie suprised me and came over and brought me flowers and a card then we had dinner. Then I finally got to bed around 11:30ish, then at Midnight dh woke me up and wished me a Happy Birthday and told me how much he loved me, AWESOMESAUCE!!!
Wednesday my actual birthday day I got lots of calls and cards, hugs and kisses from my kids -MORE AWESOMESAUCE- and  had lunch with my grandparents, then when the hubs got home he brought me flowers!! Red and white carnations, I love them, I think they smell great and last longer than roses. Thye are still as beautiful when he brought them home and tomorrow will be a week and trust me they have been sniffed a million times by my 3 yr old, so they've been through the ringer.
All in all it was a great birthday.

I'm still working at the Michael's teaching the cake decorating classes, doing cakes on the side is either really busy or slow so it comes in waves.

And we're itching for it to warm up so we can get into the garden and get some veggies going. Soon we'll be busy busy but I love it...

So that's been life lately.

Wednesday 1/3/2013

Wow that feels weird to write, 2013!!!

Today is a back to normal kind of day for us, I've packed the hubs lunch and he is off to work, the boys are off to school and that leaves little miss and I home today to take care of the laundry, dishes and housework.

I am fixing to put some leftover roast in the crockpot to cook off the bones and I'll turn it into dinner for tonight.I am thinking beef and gravy over hm buttermilk biscuits mmm sounds good to me. Or maybe beef, mushrooms and gravy over rice, mmm either way it will be great. Great for the budget to use up leftovers and great for the tummies because they'll be full of yumminess!! Win-Win if you ask me!!

Looks like this week will be full of leftovers. I baked a ham on Sunday. We've been enjoying it since!! On sunday we had Ham and Fried Potatoes, Monday dh took a ham sandwich in his lunch box, then Monday night we had more Ham made into Ham, egg and cheese on Toast, YUMMY. Today dh took a ham sandwich in his lunch box,and if I get to it today I plan on cutting up what I can to make him sandwiches for the rest of the work week, and also to cube some to use in fried rice. I also have some veggie platter leftovers from Saturday's birthday celebration for our daughter, I'll use the veggie platter leftovers in stirfry, there's carrots, broccolli, snow peas and celery, that will make a great stir fry!!  That ham was decent size so I'm hoping in addition to the  fried rice I have planned I'll be able to freeze some for later use either in more yummy fried rice or with eggs in an omlet or in Scallopped potatoes with ham, hmmm I LOVE leftovers!!

Well I better get busy, lots to do and just me and Boo here to get it done!! I'm thankful that we took the tree down yesterday while everyone was here to help, thats one less thing that needs done :)

Chicken Soup

So the old saying is that Chicken soup is good for a cold....right?? Well to be honest I am one of those people that believes in doing things the old fashioned way. 

And we are sick and tired of being sick. I've had the benefit of going to the dr for an antibiotic,my hubs on the other hand, well he's a guy and likes to suffer for a while before he likes to break down and go to the dr.

So I talked to him this afternoon and he's stuffy and miserable and I asked him what he wanted for dinner and he asked me if I could make him some good homemade chicken noodle soup.

Yes, of course I can and I would love to make him some.

1. Its sooooo yummy!
2. I really believe it has some medicinal properties to it, I mean if it's worked for my great grandmother's and their large broods of children there's gotta be some merit too it.

So any way I thought I would share my version in case your interested..
To get it started You will need: 
A whole chicken
a large onion
a whole garlic head
3 carrots
3 ribs of celery
salt
pepper
3 bay leaves
Thyme- fresh if you've got it
Water
and a BIG POT :)

Ok so I unwrapped the whole chicken rinsed it off and removed the neck and giblets, rinsed them and put it all in the pot, I cut the onion in half, and I cut the garlic head in half NOT PEELING EITHER and threw them into the pot, I cut the carrots- (don't peel them either) and celery in half and put them in the pot, added the salt, pepper, bay leaves adn thyme, covered it with water and set it to cook.  That's it. Easy huh???

I'm going to let it cook till the chicken is good and falling off the bones, then I strain it all  and reserve the good awesome broth. I'll pick the chicken from the bones and it will probably make us 2 good meaty meals.

To finish the soup I'll take another raw onion, some more raw carrots, raw garlic and raw celery and chop them up and cook them a bit in another pot with a little butter, then add in probably half of the cooked chicken and enough reserved broth to make us a dinner size pot of soup then when it starts to boil I'll drop in some egg noodles and cook till the noodles are done then voila' Yummy good homemade chicken noodle soup!!!

With the other half of the reserved cooked chicken I can make another meal or freeze it for later, and I'll do the same if there is any of that good broth left as well!!!

So that's how I make soup!!

Jump Start on the morning...

So one of the things I want to do better about is breakfast. My oldest son usually eats breakfast at school and hubby only has coffee on the way to work. Not sure the Hubs habits will change but I would like to get away from the oldest eating breakfast at school. I have a couple reasons for wanting that to change. The number 1 reason is cost, it costs me 1.30 every morning he eats breakfast at school and breakfast at school in my eyes and my son's stomach is more like a morning snack than a morning meal. I am paying 1.30  for him to eat a  morning snack at school five days a week. In addition and my number 2 reason is that my youngest son will be going to school a full day this fall and well that will add up to 1.30 x 2 x5days a week right now its costing me 6.50 for the oldest and if prices don't increase which well we can't count on that they won't another 6.50 a week for my second son and it adds up to 13.00. I think I can do better than that and they will be more satisfied and full longer. Enter in this recipe:
http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/overnight-cinnamon-rolls/
I've made this before and they are delicious!! Easy and not real time consuming and well thats a win-win in my book.

Its super simple you mix these goodies up, roll them out, fill them, roll them up, cut them, place them in a greased baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and pop in the fridge, they raise nice and slow overnight and when you get up in the morning you just turn on the oven and pop them in to bake. Easy Peasy!!!

*FYI* I make them up using the recipe for adding the oil and egg, I like the consistancy it gives the dough.

I can mix up the drizzle while I am enjoying my first cup of coffee and voila, warm-gooey-yummy-homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast!!

I've toyed around with some other quick breakfasts. I really like the hm mcmom sandwiches that freeze and reheat wonderfully, and my kids like them too!!

If you get a chance to try the overnight cinnamon rolls let me know what you think. They're a winner at this house!!!

Happy Day after Memorial Day!!

Good Morning!!

I hope your weekend was as wonderful as ours!! With the 3 day weekend we were able to get alot of things done around here that really needed done.

On friday evening dh was able to come home earlier than usual because everyone in his office had already left early to enjoy their weekends so the office closed early!! He and the boys worked on the garden fencing while I started up the mower and got a head start on the yard work. We called it a night and came in when it was too dark outside to see. Thankfully he was able to get the fencing completed!!

Saturday we were up and attem' and finished up the yard work!! Dh mowed more with the push mower and did all the trimming. The kids and I moved yard furniture around and made sure the yard was all picked up. I even worked in the garage some to organize and straighten things up a bit. Mostly things like holiday decorations that had just been put in the garage but not nessassarily put away properly. Dh was happy about this as it freed up some valuable walking space in his garage!! After yard work we took trash away.
After that we came home cleaned up and in the heat of the day we went to town. Dh suprised us with a really nice late lunch/early dinner at Olive Garden!! I picked up some supplies and we headed home it had been a very full day!!!

Sunday we got up early and got ready for church, our pastor had called the night before and asked if our boys would help him by participating in the service the next morning. Our boys ages 10 and 6, dressed in their cub scout uniforms carried the American Flag and lead the congregation in Pledge Of Allegiance. I was honored and proud to say the least!!!

After Church we went to my grandmother's side family reunion, it was so hot and miserable that I was relieved when it was over and we were able to come home. Don't get me wrong it was nice seeing everyone but I am hoping next year they wait till early fall to have the reunion.

Then we came home and relaxed a bit before being suprised with some drop in company that stayed for dinner.  While making dinner I was able to make my macaroni salad for our cookout on Monday!!

Monday(yesterday) I got up and got busy getting the rest of the food made for our cookout. We made:
BBQ and Greek Chicken
Hot dogs for the little ones
Macaroni Salad
Potato Salad
Cake
Tea and Lemonade and Koolaid
Our friends and family brought:
Sweet Potato Souffle
Greek Salad
Chips
Cakes
hm from scratch brownies-oh my sooooo goood!
more drinks (sodas)

It was a feast!!! Sooo good, and everyone had a blast sitting around talking, eating, playing in the water and with bubbles. It was an awesome day!! One granted to us by those who selflessly give of themselves so that we can enjoy all that we do.

By the end of the day once all the food was put away and the cookout semi cleaned up,  last night, when the boys told me they were a bit hungry before bed, one asked for a bowl of cereal and the other asked for another hm brownie I had no problem being the cool mom and saying go for it. Yes I know not the best choice for a quickie snack but I'll fill them full of good for them stuff today to make up for it!! lol Extra veggies and fruits all around, lol

Today is catch up day for me, I need to clean up this cookout we had yesterday, by the time everyone left last night and we got the food put away, I gave myself the night off and so the dishes are waiting for me this morning, but that is ok. There is also laundry to do and the house to pick up. But I have great reasons to inspire me in my work today. My children and my hubby, make it all worth it!!!

Speaking of the children and the Hubs, the children are back to school today, only 5.5 days left of this school year and yes they have end-of-year-itis, and are ready to start their summer vacaction!! Hubby is back to work today as well, he's still battling his sinus junk but hopefully will be on the mend soon.

Not sure about dinner tonight, I'll come up with something good, its been super busy around here, a whirlwind of activities really, that I need to take a moment and get centered and refocus on my menu and such. Its so much easier when I have all the meals planned out!!!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and I'm wishing you well in the week to come!!
Blessings to you!!
Dana

Fried Chicken Salad

Since a couple of ladies have asked how I make our Fried chicken Salad I thought I would just make a post about it.

Sorry I don't have any pics, but hopefully as I explain my way of making it, your imaginations will recreate how really yummy this salad is.

The best part is that its truely very very simple.

I was able to buy a bagged salad mix very cheaply but then added to it. The salad mix I bought had iceburg lettuce, red cabbage and shredded carrots in it, then I added, cucumbers, green peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes,  and fresh raw spinach leaves that were chopped smaller since they weren't baby spinach leaves.

I also cooked and chopped up some hard boiled eggs.

Then for the fried chicken part I had coupons for those Tyson Breaded Chicken Tenders, so I used those but have made this many times before with my own breaded and fried chicken tenders.

I took the Tyson Breaded Chicken Tenders and deep fried them, and then let them cool, once they were cool I chopped them all up kinda small. Smaller makes it go farther.

I set it all up almost like a buffet, I had a huge bowl of salad chock full of veggies, a bowl of chopped hard boiled eggs and a bowl of chopped cooked breaded chicken tenders and then toppings like different dressings, bacon bits, etc.

When I assembled mine I took and  piled on the salad, ( I♥Salad) then topped with eggs, chicken, bacon bits and salad dressing, it was very very filling, you don't have to have alot of chicken and its still yummy so it works well as a stretchy meal.

IT IS SOOOOOO GOOD AND SOOOO FILLING and its a great meal for those super hot days!!

I also like spicy foods so I sometimes make Buffalo chicken salad, My husband don't care for spicy food at all so when I am craving something spicy I make everything just like I listed above but in a small bowl I put a pat of butter and then some Frank's Red Hot hot sauce, and microwave it till the butter is melted then I toss in some of the already cooked and chopped up chicken and toss to coat, you don't need alot of sauce, just enough to lightly coat the chicken, then I put it on top of my salad and drizzle ranch dressing over everything and then gooble it up :)

I used to bake potatoes to go with this meal too, so it wouldn't be just a cold meal but lately I haven't done this and its just as filling and satisfying without having  a baked potato on the side.

I hope you try this salad, its really easy and really yummy!!!