Not A Lost Cause

So any of you few that may actually check/use this site, just wanted you to know, it is not a lost cause!! I am planning on continuing with it, it's just our end of summer got crazy, then Sadie arrived and I just haven't done much cooking, and what I have done is either not really share worthy or just repeats, SO...

Now that we are done getting "new baby" meals I will hopefully be picking back up with cooking and will try to find time to get back on board with getting some new recipes on here. Just to prove it to you, I will atleast include a "no recipe idea" for you that is on our stove here tonight.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

If you like Mexican soups, don't think you can't easily make your own creation at home. It's a great way to get creative or use up stuff from your pantry. Just dump and taste! Here's generally how I do mine.

• chopped cooked chicken -I have used canned, rotisserie, or like tonight I boiled a 3 pack of breasts to use the extra broth- but 2 breasts would have been enough- so whatever you have or find easiest
• beans- my fave is black beans- but really a white bean (northern beans) would be fine too
• tomatoes- I like to use a can of tomatoes and green chilies for the extra kick
• corn- a can or a bag of frozen- either works
• chopped onion and fresh garlic- if you don't have these just use garlic and onion powders
• chicken broth- again I used the broth from my cooked chicken, plus a four cup carton of store bought
• rice- I like to cook up some rice and throw that in
• spices- I always use lots of cumin and some chili powder- or you can even use taco seasoning if you have that. Obviously salt and pepper.
• peppers- tonight I threw in just a small amount of chopped jalapenos, guess I'm feeling a little extra spicy =)
• We top ours with crunched tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and sour cream--- just cause we're healthy like that!

Dump it all in your pot and simmer on your stove top- oh I'd say atleast thirty minutes and there you have it! Easy as... well... soup!

Thanks again for sticking with me and again hope to be back soon!

No Recipe Required- Meal Idea #5

Last night when 5:00 rolled around, and I knew the question of "What are we going to do for dinner?" was looming over our heads- I decided to forgo asking Ryan, since that usually gets me no where and think of something creative on my own. I have been kind of digging the finding what's around and trying to use it up thang lately. I had two chicken breasts left from a dinner I am making for a family with a new baby, so I decided to cook them up, shred them , and use them for a BBQ chicken pizza. My other toppings were pretty much extra things I had left in the fridge that were left over or just staples. SOO this is a fun way to get creative, but here is how I did mine.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 can Pillsbury pizza dough- cooked at 425 for 8 minutes BEFORE topping- 10-12 minutes after toppings

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BBQ sauce- I would recommend using one you really like- we love Rendevous (locally) but this last time I bought some I bought "Sticky Fingers" and it is delicious!

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2 chicken breasts- cooked and shredded- I did in a skillet with my usual base seasoning of salt, pepper, and garlic powder

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Other Toppings:

Red onion- sliced into small strips

Red Sweet Pepper- sliced into small strips

Green Onion- chopped (I just wanted to use this up and thought it would add something green- wasn't sure if it would be onion overkill, but it wasn't)

Bacon-3 slices, fried and crumbled

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I layered all my ingredients on partially baked crust, then sprinkled with a little bit of crushed red pepper flakes and topped with shredded Colby Jack Cheese and returned to oven to bake.

Before cheese and baking- Finished-
Let me know if you come up with any other toppings that would be good!!!

No Recipe Required- Meal Idea #4

Sometimes I wonder if most people realize how easy it is is to make your own Alfredo sauce. There are many nights that we don't know what we are going to have for dinner that we just make some "garlic butter pasta" (which is just as it sounds- olive oil, butter, and lots of garlic all sauteed then tossed with pasta) or Alfredo sauce. I LOVE Alfredo ( it's creamy and bad for you, of course I would like it wouldn't I?) but I honestly DO NOT like jarred Alfredo in the slightest. If you buy it refrigerated, that stuff is okay, but I have yet to find a jar of Alfredo sauce that tastes right to me. And why would I want to? Making my own is a cinch! Here is your No Recipe Meal Idea for today-

Pasta with Alfredo Sauce

(Even though, we did have this- with the pesto and chicken variations last night for dinner, I did not take a pic so I stole one form the internet this time around)

Okay so for a bare bones Alfredo sauce all you need is, kid you not, is: butter, cream or half and half, and Parmesan cheese (grated works best), and salt and pepper of course. Seriously that is all there is to it!! I do, however, add garlic every time because I think it gives it more flavor, and well I love garlic!

SO- I melt oh about 1/2 stick butter in a pan on medium low heat and let my garlic (about 3 cloves, minced) cook just a little in it before I add my cream. Then I pour in 1-2 cups cream or half and half- exact measurements really aren't vital.

Bring it to a low boil, stirring regularly- Meanwhile, cooking pasta. Add Parmesan cheese to sauce - I don't usually measure, but it's a pretty generous amount- 3/4 cup or so? This should help thicken your sauce. Some people don't even cook their sauce- they just add the ingredients to hot, drained pasta- I cook mine since I use garlic so that the flavor cooks through. When your pasta of choice is done and drained, just pour sauce in with it and toss- add more Parmesan as needed.

**Other variations I like to do:

• Add a couple tablespoons full of store bought pesto to your sauce.


• Cook chicken (boneless skinless breasts) in a skillet, browning on both sides and cooking through. Drain some and add sauce to chicken to simmer, then serve over pasta.


• And one of my favorite meals period- I like to chop up some red onion and put it in my butter with the garlic to saute for a bit- then continue Alfredo as before. Then when my pasta is done boiling, I toss into the water (with the noodles and all) a full container/bag of fresh spinach. Let it sit in the boiling water for literally a few seconds before you turn the stove off. Turn it off and let stand for a couple second until it is just cooked (doesn't take more than a few more seconds) then I drain my pasta and spinach all at once and add my garlic and onion Alfredo sauce. YUM!

What variations do you do?

No Recipe Required- Meal Idea #3

We did this easy dinner this weekend, and when wanting some down home kinda cookin' it's good, but it's not for the extreme health conscious, so if you one of those, skip this! It definitely doesn't fit into the current trends of cooking, it's more like what an old school southern or midwestern mom would cook up, but hey sometimes I feel like that!

Minute Steaks
Skillet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole

If you've never made minute steaks, you buy "cube steak" from the store. They normally come in packs of four and look like skinny beef patties that someone took a punch roller to. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat- just enough to generously cover the bottom of the pan. Set out 2 dishes. Fill one with flour and seasoning (I usually just do pepper and Seasoned salt) and fill the other with your "binder"- evaporated milk or eggs, beaten both work well. Dip steaks in milk/ eggs and then into flour mixture, coating well. Place in oil and cook until no longer pink- about 4 minutes on each side.

For my potatoes, I slice them thin with my mandolin slicer (2 large or 3-4 small is more than enough for two people). Melt half stick of butter in frying pan and place potatoes in. I season them generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I even continue seasoning them through cooking when I flip them , to make sure each slice gets coated since they tend to stick together. I would give yourself forty minutes or so for these, especially if you like them to crisp up! Flip several times to brown on all sides.Yum!

Lastly we did green bean casserole- you know the stuff- 1-1/2 bags frozen green beans (I like French cut) thawed, a can of cream soup (celery or mushroom) and shredded cheddar cheese. Bake for 35 minutes at 350- remove and top with French fried onions and bake for an extra five.

And there you have an easy, BUDGET FRIENDLY, no recipe required meal in 45 minutes start to finish.

Dinner Ideas- No Recipe Required

I thought I would try to include on this blog from time to time, some general dinner ideas. Sometimes you don't want to drag out a cook book, measure things out, peruse the grocery aisles for every exact ingredient- Sometimes you just want to make something and just don't know what. We always hate the dreaded "what do we do for dinner?" question. Just making the decision sometimes is more than half the battle in our house. So I thought I would include this "No Recipe Required Dinner Ideas" for those nights that we just need some inspiration on a direction to head.

I have two that we have done this week:

Dinner Idea #1

Grilled Chicken ( we did boneless skinless thighs and I seasoned with Lemon Pepper)

Grilled Zucchini (I use my mandolin slicer to slice them in planks lengthwise and they grill beautifully)

Baked Potato (Just good old fashioned potato in the oven- dressed to your liking)

What a satisfying, easy dinner with little work and even better- hardly any clean up! Also, you only have to pick up three things at the store.

Dinner Idea #2

Shepherd's Pie

Who's mom didn't make Shepherd's Pie when you were a kid? This had been sounding good to me lately so I made it last night for dinner. Talk about a meal with no rules- my mom used to use corn as her vegetable and anything else she could find leftover in our fridge to use up. Once I had Ryan's mom's that she made with green beans and a tomato sauce in her meat. I liked it like that and that way has stuck with me.

So her is how I did mine:

Browned my ground beef (a little less than 3lbs) with chopped onion and seasonings (you can be creative)- I just used salt and pepper, oregano, and some garlic powder. I drained it and mixed in two cans of tomato soup (You can use anything for your tomato sauce- I chose soup to keep it mild)

Meanwhile, I cooked and mashed my potatoes with butter, milk, and some sour cream.

I layered in my big casserole dish- my meat, a thawed bag of frozen french cut beans, my potatoes, and topped with some shredded cheddar and sprinkled with Paprika.

I baked at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

It hit the spot for us! And if your leftover people like us, you've got dinner for the next couple nights.

I hope the picture is a bonus for you- I felt like a nerd taking a picture of our food, but I thought if it would add something to the blog I would do it =) So I hope you like it. Haha.