Beef and Broccoli with Fried Rice

http://www.bsrecipe.blogspot.com/2012/04/crock-pot-beef-and-broccoli.html

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html

The first is for the crock pot beef and broccoli, the second is for the fried rice.

I really have nothing to add to this. But here it goes anyways…

*I put in probably a little over a tablespoon of minced ginger and also added some Sriracha to both the beef and fried rice.

**After I added the cornstarch and let it boil the sauce didn’t really thicken, but it tasted just fine.

***I cooked mine on low for 6 1/2 hrs total. It does not need to be that long, but it was kind of nice having the beef shredded as opposed to chunks you have to cut.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

I thought I would be fancy and do my own version of a pumpkin dump cake, but my cooking skills don’t seem to be advanced enough to make up a baked good recipe yet.  Really what happened is I just didn’t read the entire recipe of what I was supposed to do.

I manged to fix it, but it wasn’t enough for Joey to rave over, so clearly I won’t try my version again. Here’s the real recipe…I suggest you use this and follow the directions and it will turn out great!

http://cookiesandcups.com/pumpkin-dump-cake/

*For the topping I crushed up 8 graham crackers and mixed that with some brown sugar and cinnamon.

**Make sure you pour the butter over the cake mix! That is what I failed to do, so obviously the cake didn’t bake. I had to just mix everything together in the pan and re-bake it. I don’t suggest that.

***I topped it with homemade whip cream. You can never go wrong with that! (Carton of heavy whipping cream with a little bit of vanilla and sugar to taste. Whip it with beaters until it forms peaks. And  make sure you chill the bowl and beaters in the freezer before you make it)

Lasagna

I got this recipe from my mother, who got it from the North County Journal in Florissant many, many years ago. 

What you need:

• 1lb Ground turkey
• 26-32 oz Spaghetti sauce (Prego: Heart smart roasted red pepper and garlic is my favorite)
• 16 oz Diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 15 oz Cottage or ricotta cheese
• 1 Egg, well beaten
• 1/4 c. Grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. Basil
• 6 or more uncooked lasagna noodles
• 2 or more cups Mozzarella cheese, divided

How to make it:

• Brown meat with your choice of seasonings, add spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes.
• Combine cottage cheese, egg, parmesan cheese, and basil.
• Spread 2 cups of meat sauce over bottom of 11x7 baking dish.
• Arrange 3(+) noodles on top, pressing into mixture.
• Spoon cottage cheese mixture on top.
• Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese on it.
• Top with 2 cups of meat sauce.
• Press remaining noodles into meat sauce, followed by the rest of the sauce.
• Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
• Add rest of cheese and bake for another 15 minutes.
• Let stand 10 mins before serving.

Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

http://www.insidebrucrewlife.com/2012/04/peanut-butter-pudding-cookies.html

Umm, these were delicious!!

*It called for chocolate chips and banana chips. I added neither and just used an entire bag of Reese’s Pieces (12oz I think). It was about a 1/2 cup too many, but it made for a treat at the end.

**Instead of baking for 10 mins, bake for 15.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This dip rivals Big Whiskey's in Springfield :)

I borrowed the idea from a few different blogs and mixed them all together, so I am claiming this idea as my own.

What you need:

• 3lbs Frozen chicken breasts
• 2 8oz Packages cream cheese (I used neufchatel cheese)
• 1 Package ranch dressing
• 12 oz Bottle hot sauce (I used Frank’s Orginal)
• 8oz Velveeta
• Tbsp Sour cream (optional, I just had that much in my fridge and decided to throw it in)
• Serve with tortilla chips, celery, broccoli etc.

What you do:

• Put all of the ingredients in a crock pot
• Cook on low for 6 hours
• Mix occasionally (I didn’t mix it till 5 hrs because I was busy)
• After 6 hours shred the chicken (I just used 2 forks and the chicken fell apart)
• Cook for another hour or so if it’s not cooked to your liking
• Serve warm!

That’s it, I have no side notes for you :)

Corn Dog Muffins

I got this idea from http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/05/mini-corn-dog-muffins-recipe.html

What you need:

• 4 boxes of corn muffin mix (the recipe has you make your own, but I went the easy route)
• 10 hot dogs cut in 3rds

What to do:

• Make all the mix by following all the instructions on the box
• Fill the muffin tins 1/2 way full (I used the tin liners to reduce mess)
• Stick in a hot dog piece
• Fill muffin tins a little more
• Bake for the amount of time said on the box and viola!

*It was supposed to make 24 but I got 30 out of it instead

**Next time I think I am going to cut up the hot dogs in little pieces and mix them into the batter so you get a little bit of hot dog in each bite :)

***I served with ketchup and mustard

Fantasy Football Draft Party

I let Joey host his draft party at my apartment so I could cook some new food :)

Chocolate Chess Pie

My version of a chocolate chess pie. I made this for Joey’s sister-in-laws birthday. It was interesting to say the least, it reminded me of a chewy half baked brownie.

http://www.crunchyrock.com/2011/03/314159-chocolate-chess-pie.html

*I used a glass pie dish, but as you can see the filling barely filled it up, so it is ok to use an 8” pan I do believe.

**The crust browned very fast, so bake the crust for 5 mins.

***It seemed a little plain, so I ripped large marshmallows in half and put them on top. I then set the oven to broil, once it was all done baking, and watched the marshmallows till they started to brown. It took about 3 mins so watch out!

Ultimate Nachos

Everyone should know how to make nachos, but why not post this anyway :)

What you need:

• Tortilla chips
• Shredded chicken (see below on how to make)
• Shredded lettuce
• Tomato
• Jalapenos
• Sour Cream
• Salsa
• Cheese sauce (velveeta and rotel of course!)

You can also get crazy and add whatever other toppings you want, but I stuck with the basics.

Shredded Chicken:

1. Put how ever much chicken in a pot.
2. Sprinkle chili powder and whatever other seasoning you want on the chicken.
3. Pour enough lemon juice (or lime) and water in the pot to barely cover the chicken.
4. Bring to a slow boil then cover and reduce heat to a simmer.
5. Cook for 20-23 mins or until no pink is left.
6. Let cool then shred with a knife!

Chicken with Potatoes and Onions

My mom stocked me up on farmers market produce because I don't have time to go in Springfield. She got the potatoes, onions, and garlic from the farmers market in Ferguson, MO.

What you need:

• 1lb Chicken tenderloin (or chicken of your choice)
• Little potatoes (if you can't find small baking potatoes, you can use red potatoes. I would say 4 per person)
• 1 Yellow onion
• 3 Cloves minced garlic

For the seasoning:

• Chardonnay
• Lemon juice
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Lemon pepper

Bake in the oven at 425 for 45-60 minutes.

Mediterranean Pasta

Here is a little recipe I made up myself.

What you need:

• 3 cups Whole wheat penne pasta
• 1lb Cooked chicken (I cut up chicken tenderloin and cooked with chardonnay, lemon juice, garlic, and lemon pepper)
• 1 Yellow onion
• 1 Red pepper
• 1 Container of feta cheese
• Lemon juice, olive oil, and lemon pepper to taste.

Mix all together and voila, a tasty dinner!

*i adapted this recipe from a couscous recipe, but Joey doesn't like couscous :(  That recipe calls for cucumbers and lime juice instead of lemon.

Zucchini Bread and Muffins

Joey's parents gave me 2 huge zucchini this past summer. So naturally I had to make some bread.

*I added cinnamon sugar to the top.

**For the muffins I put in some raisins and baked for 30 minutes.

***The bread took an hour to cook, not 40 minutes.

****You can cut down on the sugar. They are rather sweet but still really tasty.

http://hoosierhomemade.com/zucchini-bread/#

Ps. Grating zucchini sucks! I will definitely be investing in a food processor.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

I had pinned these, but never made them. So for my birthday my friend went through my pinterest to find something to make for me. This is what she came up with. The were really tasty and really rich!

http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/06/02/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-brownies/

Strawberry Pie

This is the perfect summer pie and even makes 2!


*Instead of mixing the strawberries with the gel, I equally divided the strawberries between the 2 pie crusts and then equally put the mixture over them. It was a lot easier.

http://media-cache-ec2.pinterest.com/upload/32932640995225325_LCmZKMyv.jpg

S'more Bars

This will be my last post of the the night. I will continue tomorrow when I get off work.

I made these for my friends birthday because she LOVES s'mores. She even had a s'mores bar at her wedding :) They were so good and went very, very fast, because who doesn't like a good s'more? Especially when you can eat it with a fork.

*It says not to cut till all the way cool, but I ran out of time and had to cut them. They were very gooey and messy but tasted even better with the melted chocolate and warm marshmallow in the middle.

http://www.bakedperfection.com/2008/07/smore-cookie-bars.html

Sweet Baby Ray's Crock Pot Chicken

This was the first recipe I ever made using a crock pot. Now I am very excited that it is almost crock pot weather :)

*I also added onions to the crock pot

**Would taste good with Hasselback potatoes.

http://www.justapinch.com/recipe/tamara-martin/sweet-baby-rays-crockpot-chicken/quick-easy-chicken

Hasselback Potatoes

I made these to go along with turkey burgers one night. They are a different option when you are wanting potatoes with your meal. Plus look awesome!

*The longer you leave them in the oven, the more they taste like fries.

**I omitted the garlic because I didn't have any at the time, instead I put little bits of butter in between some of the slits.

***And of course instead of salt I used Tony's :)

http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2009/05/hasselback-potatoes.html

Baked Chicken Legs with Mashed Potatoes

This is a little meal that I made up on my own that is quite simple.

What you need:

• 8 Chicken drumsticks
• 1 cup + Dry white wine of choice (I used Chardonnay, but you can also use Sherry)
• 1/2 cup or so Lemon juice
• 1 Yellow onion
• 1/2 bag Carrots
• Season with rosemary, oregano, and what ever other spices you like

What you do:

• Bake in the oven at 400 for an hour.

Strawberry Cream Puff Cake

Delish. Enough said. Plus the recipe was very easy to follow.

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/04/strawberry-cream-puff-cake.html

Baked Sweet n Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

I have made this recipe many times, but every time I make it I am so excited to eat it I forget to take a photograph.

Since I moved to Springfield, finding St. Louis style Chinese food had been very difficult. Luckily, Pinterest came into my life and I have discovered many tasty Chinese dishes. This beats any other sweet n sour recipe.  Plus it is baked and not fried giving you a not-so-guilty feeling for eating way too much of it :)

*It's a little on the sweet side, so you can definitely cut back on the sugar a little bit.

**I also did not use all of the oil it called for because I felt it was a little excessive and would then have to be considered a fried dish.

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html

Asian Inspired Flank Steaks with Fried Rice and Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

I clearly decided to just go ahead and repost everything. I hope you all enjoy!

I made this meal for Joey's birthday, that was in June. It was the first Pinterest meal I had ever made and it turned out quite nicely I thought.

*With the fried rice I also added a Tablespoon of minced ginger.

**For the green beans I used Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning instead of salt and pepper, it is my go to when salt is needed.

***Another time I made the green beans I used Feta cheese instead of parmesan, it tasted even better!


http://savorysweetlife.com/2011/04/the-pioneer-womans-black-heels-to-tractor-wheels-and-asian-inspired-flat-iron-steak-recipe/

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/11/roasted-parmesan-green-beans.html

Decision

I still haven't decided if I should just transfer all of my recipes over here or start from scratch. I guess in reality I don't have THAT many recipes to transfer over.

Your thoughts?

Life at the Moment

As many of you know, I just started as a teller at a bank in Springfield. It has 6 branches in Springfield, 1 in St. Louis, and over 300 in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Florida and etc. I love it so far! The girls who have been training me are super nice and I am understanding everything they throw at me. It was just Monday when I was allowed to start doing transactions, and now on Thursday I already feel like a pro. A slow pro, but a pro nonetheless. Next Thursday I will be done training and all on my own. I am very thankful I have another week of being looked after, but I feel like I would do just fine on my own right now as well.