Site Help

Can anyone help me out w/ this site? I'm disliking it so much, I might switch sites for this blog. I don't like the double spacing and all that. I've been playing w/ my last blog for awhile now, and it is still messing up and won't format right.

It's a Campbell's Night

Recently on a Random Saturday night I was in the mood to cook a chicken dish. I grabbed my barely used Campbell's cookbook and was quite delighted when I found a complete 3 dish meal in one cookbook. And, I had all ingredients in my kitchen already. Talk about a success!

The menu included:

• Chicken Crunch
• Green Bean Casserole
• Creamy Super Rice

Chicken Crunch

2 T flour

1.5 C Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing, crushed

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 C milk

1 lb boneless/skinless chicken breasts 2 T melted butter Dash of Rosemary (optional) Directions: Heat oven to 400* Place flour and chicken in sealed bag and shake well Place crushed stuffing in bowl Stir 1/3 C of the soup and 1/4 C of the milk in a bowl Dip coated chicken in soup Coat w/ crushed stuffing Place chicken on backing sheet and drizzle w/ butter Bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked Heat the remaining soup/milk mixture (add dash of rosemary) on stove to serve over chicken Green Bean Casserole 1 can cream of shroom soup 1/2 C milk 1 t soy sauce 1/8 t pepper

4 C frozen green beans

French Fried Onions (I didn't have)

Canned shrooms (I added)

Directions:

Stir everything together and bake for 25 minutes at 350*.

Creamy Souper Rice

1 can cream of shroom soup (I didn't have any more so I used chicken, as recipe instructed)

1/5 C chicken broth

1.5 C uncooked instant white rice

1 T grated parmesan cheese

dash pepper

Directions:

Heat soup and broth in saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to boil

Stir in the rice and cheese and pepper.

>>>Everything turned out really well. W/ the exception of the rice. The flavor was awesome, but I didn't realize my rice was not instant so it took forever to cook. It didn't even cook all the way. I should have cooked the rice first, then added the rest of the ingredients. I was really proud of the chicken, it breaded perfectly... my breading skills need improvement. The green bean casserole was good, but it will never be as good as my mom's.

Sausage and Gravy

Recently, I've grown quite found of McDonald's sausage and gravy biscuits. I've wanted to recreate this recipe for awhile. I made it today for lunch after a day and evening spent at the lake. It was very simple. I've also become obsessed w/ the dry packets of gravy and mixes at the grocery store. What a selection! I have always been a fan of cooking everything from scratch. The taste is better, and I love the satisfaction of knowing I cooked it from scratch. Buuutttt, my co-workers motto is growing on me, "Why cook it from scratch when you can buy it from the store." Sausage & Gravy Biscuits 1 lb ground country sausage 2 pkgs dry country gravy mix sliced bread (I didn't have biscuits) Cook and drain the meat. Cook gravy according to package. Tear bread into pieces and place in bowl. Add meat, top w/ gravy. Enjoy! This turned out good... I want to use biscuits next time, and maybe flavor the sausage w/ a little something.

At Home Japanese & White Sauce

I love Japanese... the dishes at the local restaurants are delicious. The white sauce is what makes the meal! I found a recipe for the white sauce online. I was estatic. I went home and made it, it is supposed to sit overnight to mix the flavors. I couldn't wait the next day to get in the kitchen and cook something to go w/ it. Regretably, I don't have pictures. But what I did do, was try to recreate a dish I get whenever I go out for Japanese. Japanese Steak & Shrimp 2 pieces steak - cut up into bite size pieces half a bag of shrimp - maybe 25 or so pieces 2 squash 2 zucchini 1 onion fresh sliced shrooms seaseme seed oil veggie oil soy sauce fried rice sesame seeds I sliced all the veggies and cooked them in a lot of veggie oil, a splash of sesame seed oil and soy sauce. I used my contraption that is like a big pan you heat up that sits on the counter, can't remember the name. Once tender to my liking, I removed them and added the meats, adding more of both oils. Once cooked, I added the veggies to the pan to heat everything up together. While this was going on, I made regular white rice. I attempted to fry the rice. W/ soy sauce, sesame seeds and a scrambled egg. It didn't turn out so well. The rice still tasted good, but frying it was difficult. It was starting to get browned and I grew impatient and stopped frying it - I was anxious to eat! I think if I wouldn't have made so much rice, or had a bigger pan, it would have turned out better. I served everything w/ the delicious white sauce. Perfection!!! I ate this meal for lunch the next day, and dinner as well. It was a lot of work, all the slicing and dicing - but it was worth it.

My Father's Daughter

I have obsession... w/ cookbooks.

Today, I purchased Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook My Father's Daughter.

I've skimmed through it, and I'm excited to find recipes to use. She uses all organic and other sorts of healthy kind of foods.

Kitchen Staples

Their are quite a few items I like to have handy in my kitchen at all times. They are basic fundementals of the cooking world. I'm sure I'll forget a few, but here is my list of kitchen staples. Kitchen Staples

• Flour
• Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Regular & Italian Bread Crumbs
• Canned Veggies - Corn, Green Beans, Shrooms
• In-A-Box Items Like - Mac & Cheese, Scalloped Potatoes
• Other "Meal Helpers"
• Noodles
• Rice
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Spices! (lot and lots)
• Dry Italian Dressing
• Dry Ranch Dressing
• Dry Onion Soup Mix
• Various cheeses

What are some of your favorite kitchen staples?

Future Ideas

I have quite a few ideas I would like to try... Starting in the Fall, I'd love to do a soup-a-day, once a week - like Monday's. I've been reading a lot about freezing techniques. I want to take a lazy weekend afternoon and make ahead meals for the following week, and placing them in the freezer and re-heating when necessary. I've been on the hunt for good recipes for this project. OHH... a weekly crock pot day is a great idea too! I also had a random project I wanted to do this week, and succeeded last night... but I went to the grocery store and picked up a few things. When I'm running low but still have stuff in my pantry, I want to work w/ what I have for an entire week and see what I can come up w/. Another idea - I have quite a collection of cookbooks. I would like to use one cookbook per week for all recipe ideas. I'm doing this blog for fun, and maybe somebody will come across a recipe or helpful hint they would like to try. *Edited from original post* I want to do weekly cuisines... Italian, Asian, Etc. One Italian meal a week, one Asian meal a week and so on. I should be able to incorporate all or some of my ideas into one big project. I could do something like this: Monday - Crock Pot Tuesday - Italian Wednesday - Soup Thursday - Asian Friday - American Saturday - OPEN Sunday - Something from Freezer Just in idea....

Part Two

I love blogging. I love the idea of blogging. I love reading strangers blogs. I love reading friends blogs. I would love to have my own blog. I've tried to blog before, w/ this same very blog. I have flooding thoughts, all through out each day, of things I will say in my blog. By the time it goes that I sit down at the computer, I feel rushed for some reason. I feel my thoughts don't come to my fingers. I paraphrase ideas that last paragraph's in my head. I will try this blog again. I've thought about starting a brand new blog w/ this same idea. But why? Back and forth, back and forth... these are the ideas that pass through my mind while the hours of the day travel on. So, here I go... A little introduction of myself... I love cooking. I didn't always love cooking. I grew up w/ two loving parents - my mother, a devoted and carrying "domestic enginner" *cough cough Mommy Mel* and my father, a hard working head of the family. I often feel lucky that my parents stayed married after all of these years, and the statistics that face families today. So, anyway, I never had to cook a day in my life until I moved out. Sure, I experimented in my mother's kitchen. Me and my childhood friend burning a favorite pot comes to mind. Or, the time I heated a pizza garlic-butter dish in the microwave and missed a spot of foil - catching the paper towel placed on top to catch spills... catching on fire and causing much humilation and laughter. Besides these escapades, I was fortunate enough to have food placed on the table each and every night of the 22 years I lived w/ my family. Of course, if I didn't want what was being offered, I was given the oppurtunity to make myself a sandwich... the same rule I plan to instill in my future children. So... here I am. (Watching Camelot and drinking Moscato) I don't think I liked the layout of this blog in it's previous days, so I'll try something new. Something w/o a pattern. Like I said, I love cooking... now. I never had a hobby growing up, except playing the flute (rather excellently) in middle school. So, I feel like cooking is a hobby of mine I just enjoy it. Creating concoctions, watching recipes take form.

New Cookbook

So.... I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my new $10 Taste of Home cookbook. How could I resist?! I can't help that a letter came in the mail for a $10 Taste of Home cookbook. Anyway, It's been a couple weeks & I haven't gotten it yet! I don't know why I'm fretting. It's not like I do much cooking these days anyway. It's no fun cooking only for myself!

Baked Chimichangas

Chimichangas are my favorite thing to order from Mexican restaurants. Last night I was in search of something to cook... I had tortillas left over from the Fish Tacos, and chicken in the freezer. I was thinking of whipping up my own concoction of chicken fajitas with ingredients I had in house. I flipped through a cookbook for guidance and came across Baked Chimichangas. I had all the ingredients, almost. I substituted mozzarella cheese for cheddar and had to use milk instead of half and half. Oh, and green chili's. I used green peppers instead. I cooked the shredded chicken w/ salsa and some seasonings like cumin and oregano. Added chopped green pepper and onion. Made a sauce for topping consisting of a chicken bouillon cube, chicken broth, and the usual flour, etc. Once everything was assembled I took some of the chicken mixture and folded all 4 sides of the taco. I placed them upside down in a baking dish and baked for 15 minutes. The topping was good, although next time I might use the white sauce recipe instead. It reminded me of Salsa Chicken. Which also gave me the great idea to add the seasonings to Salsa Chicken next time to spice it up. This was really good! All I was missing was Spanish rice & a margarita.

Fish Tacos

I have always been curious about Fish Tacos. Although, I will admit, they sound disgusting. I found a recipe in a issue of Taste of Home magazine. My final opinion? DELICIOUS The recipe called for Talapia along w/ guacamole and salsa sauces, topped w/ shredded cabbage. It barely had a fish taste. I wish I would have ate w/ someone else so I could have tricked them regarding the fish.

Dinner Guests

Two friends came for dinner last night. The menu consisted of meatloaf, cheddar & parmesan scalloped potatoes, and broccoli & cheese. Deviled eggs were also supposed to be served, but they did not boil all the way... I was terribly upset. My deviled eggs are awesome! It was fun being back in the kitchen. I haven't been doing much of it lately.

Recipe Sites

Where does everyone go in search of the perfect recipe? Here are the sites I've joined recently. Taste of Home Betty Crocker Campbell's Kitchen Pillsbury

Grilled Pesto Chicken Salad

I ordered a chicken salad from Mellow Mushroom once... that had pesto. This was my first encounter with pesto. I ran across a recipe for pesto the other day while leafing through my Country Cooking cookbook. So, for last night's dinner I created a rather nice salad... 2 chicken breasts - grilled on a Griddler Jr shredded Parmesan cheese romaine lettuce croutons pesto sauce Ceasar Dressing 2 hard boiled eggs - sliced I made the Pesto and heated it in the microwave. Cut up the grilled chicken, and mixed w/ pesto. Added to salad. Yum!

BLT

Mmmm... it had been so long since I had a BLT sandwich, so that's exactly what I had for dinner last night. I also came across a delicious recipe I didn't include on my "What's for Dinner?" list. I knew this would happen!

What's for Dinner?

Aunty Carol's Chicken BBQ Chicken BBQ Pork Sandwiches - Crock Pot Beef Stew - Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff Beer-Cheese Soup BLT's Breakfast for Dinner Burgers (Ranch) Cheeseburger Chowder Cheesy Chicken - Crock Pot Chicken & Stuffing Bake Chicken Bouya Chicken Fajitas Chicken Finger Salad Chicken Fingers Chicken Stir Fry Chili Chili Cheese Fries Creamy Chicken/Pork Chop Bake Eggplant Parmesan Fettichini Alfredo French Dip Sandwiches French Onion Soup Garlic Pork Chops Greens & Gemilli Hamburger Chop Suey Hot Dogs (Chili Cheese) Italian Chicken - Crock Pot Lasagna Meatloaf Mexican Pizza (Paula Deen) Oven-Pepper Steak (Sonya Doyle) Parmesan Chicken Parmesan Dijon Chicken Personal Pizzas Pork Chop Marsala Potato Chip Chicken Potato Soup Ribs Salisbury Steak Salsa Chicken Sloppy Joes Spaghetti & Meatballs Spinach Manicotti (Stuffed Shells) Steak Steak Fajitas Stuffed Green Peppers Tacos Tommy's Chicken Marinade Tuna Cassorole Veal Marsala

Inspired

I opened my mother's cabinet and taped to the inside of the door was a list of "Meals to Make." I have seen this before, a gift from one of her sisters... but it had been so long ago. It has inspired me to make my own Meals to Make list. I'm often searching for new recipes to try, I forget about the fantastic ones I've already discovered. I will post my list once it's completed. I will not include side dishes. Although, I do like the idea of making a seperate side dish list. I also realize this list will frequently get updated. I recently purchased a Taste of Home Baking Cookbook. I prefer to cook, not bake. However, I realized I need to spruce up my baking skills. I've convinced myself this will be my one and only baking cookbook to use for all of my days, along w/ recipes handed down from my mother. I have browsed the pages, but have not attempted anything yet. So much to choose from! I have joined the sites of a few of the popular cookbooks I own, and enjoy rating & reviewing the recipes I've tried... along w/ searching for new ones, as always.

A Re-Vamp of Sorts

Sigh........................................................ I always wanted to be great at blogging, but never was. I can't even navigate this site correctly.

Steamed Veggies

I need help learning how to steam veggies.......

I'm Back

Well, I've been here all along. I realize I've been a terrible "blogger," but no one reads this anyway. A friend once told me I should join a food forum of some sort instead of doing this thing. I liked that idea, but have yet to embark on such a journey. I'm still working in the kitchen, of course. I've tried lots of new recipes. I bought a Campbell's cookbook. I must be losing my mind b/c I haven't spend much time leafing through it yet. I'll touch on a few dishes I can think of that I know I'll create again... Fried Chicken Fingers (from the Bisquick box) put into a Romaine lettuce salad. Topped w/ homemade Ranch dressing. Stuffed shells, stuffed w/ such things as ricotta cheese & spinach. Spaghetti made w/ deer meat. Potato Soup. I had a near-disaster while blending the ingredients. Not sure what's going to be on the dinner plate tonight, everything's frozen... until next time!