Construction

I have decided to upgrade my platform and move to Word Press.  Part of this will mean that my site will be temporarily down for a short time.  This will most likely happen today, so I will continue posting again later this evening.

Thank you for your understanding during this transition.

Slow Cooker Cornish Hens

This is another dish that would be perfect to impress friends with!

Ingredients:

2 Cornish Hens

1 Durkee White Wine and Herb Seasoning Packet

1/4 Cup of Italian Vinaigrette Dressing

1/4 Cup of Water
1 Can of Chicken Broth
1 Bag of Baby Carrots
3 Sliced Potatoes

I put the hens in a bag with the seasoning, dressing, and water.  I shook this up and let it sit for 30 minutes. 

While the marinade was sitting, I poured the chicken broth in the slow cooker and added the carrots and potatoes.  Then, I added in the hens.  If the liquid does not graze the top of the hens, add additional water. 

I let this cook 7 hours on low, after it was finished with 7 hours, I pulled the hens out and all the meat fell right off the bone.  Then, I put the meat back in the crock pot for another hour to soak up more of the juices. 

This is the perfect dish for a busy day, all of the veggies cook in the slow cooker as well making it minimal cooking for you!  This made 4 servings for us with 2 hens. 

Even better, the smell is amazing!

Bagel Failure

I write this blog to share my good and bad experience of learning to cook.  Lately, I've had nothing but success it seems.  The recipes I have been whipping up are very tasty and easy!

Let me say this, the bagels were not easy, fast, or tasty!  I am actually fairly certain I lost 6 hours of my life that I will never get back trying to make homemade bagels.  Meanwhile, in the back of my mind I keep telling myself, I could get a bag of bagels for $1.50 at the store, that are ready to eat!  What fun would that be though?  Umm...much more fun than my experience!

I tried 3 different recipes, all of which did not turn out.  I put aside my need to improvise and change up recipes and followed them exactly because I wanted these to turn out.  None of them turned out.

I should have known better, when I opened up the package of yeast it jumped out at me!  Really it did.  I had yeast EVERYWHERE!  I have no idea how it flew out of the package but it was all over the place!

It seems the hardest part for me was shaping the bagels because the dough was hard to work with being that it stuck to my fingers.  I thought the last batch was actually going to turn out, but they were shaped like bagels with no taste.  My husband was brave enough to try one, I did not!

In the end, I have learned to leave the bagel making to the experts and stick with breads, muffins, pancakes, and waffles!

Wordless Wednesday

A whole new world.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Let me start by saying, this was one of those dishes that you can't judged by looks.  It's good!  I found this recipe in an OSU Cookbook from my mom.  I tweaked it a bit.

Ingredients:

1 10oz Can of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 12oz Can of Evaporated Skim Milk

8 oz of Black Beans (About 1/2 a can)

1 10oz Can of Rotel with Green Chilies, drained

2 Chicken Breast, cubed

6 Flour Tortilla's (I used burrito size)

1/2 Cup of Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350*.

I used nonstick cooking spray on the bottom of the skillet and then cooked the chicken. 

In a large bowl, mix the soup, milk, Rotel, black beans, and chicken.

Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray, then place 3 flour tortilla's on the bottom.  Pour 1/2 of the mixture over the tortilla's and top with 1/4 cup of cheese.  Repeat this step again, to make 2 layers.

Bake this in the oven for 45 minutes.

I originally made this dish without the Rotel; however, I would add the Rotel to give it a little bit of a kick!

I did not think this dish necessarily looked pretty when it came out of the oven, but it did taste very good.  This can be served with a side of rice; although, we ate it without a side since the major food groups were all met.

Remember your coupons!

Enjoy!

Pizza Pasta

This dish is perfect for kids of all ages!

Ingredients:

1 16oz box of Medium Shell Pasta

1 14oz Jar of Ragu Pizza Sauce

1 10oz Can of Diced Tomatoes

1 8oz Can of Tomato Sauce

1 Package of Pepperoni

1 Tsp Garlic Salt

1/2 Cup of Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 350*.

Boil the pasta as instructed on package in a large stock pot.  Once it's drained, return back to stock pot.

Pour in the Ragu, diced tomatoes, sauce, 20-25 pepperoni torn into small pieces, and salt into the pot.  Stir this all together until it is well coated.

Next, pour this mixture into a casserole dish.  I top off the noodles with whole pepperoni slices and then cheese.

This will bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted.  We served this with frozen peas. 

We just started to introduce tomato based foods to my son, and he was in love with this.  I thought he was going to try and lick the plate!  This is definitely kid friendly!

Baked Apple Cinnamon Doughnuts

In preparation for this recipe, I had fully intended on making 'real' doughnuts, that is until I saw how much oil was required! 

I immediately had mental pictures of my mom, who teaches diet classes, passing out when she saw that oil.  I could not bring myself to do it!  So, I ended up baking them, surprisingly, they were gone by the next morning!

Ingredients:

1 Can of Pillsbury Home Style Rolls (Do not use flaky)

2 Tbsp of Melted Butter

1 Cup of Powdered Sugar

1/4 Cup of Water

1/4 Cup of Applesauce

1 Tbsp of Cinnamon Sugar

Preheat the oven to 375*.

Spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray.  Then, place the biscuits on the cookie sheet, and begin cutting the holes out of each biscuit.  In order to cut the holes, I used the lid of a bottled water as my cutter.  It worked out perfectly.

Drizzle a small amount of melted butter over each doughnut.  Then, place in the oven for 10 minutes or until completely cooked.

Combine the powdered sugar, water, and applesauce in a small bowl.  This will be the sauce to drizzle over the donuts.  In another boil, pour the cinnamon sugar in it.

Once the donuts are out of the oven, drizzle the sauce over each donut.  Then, dip each donut in the cinnamon sugar to coat and let cool. 

I thought this tasted surprisingly well to be baked doughnuts.  They will not taste like a typical doughnut, so do not plan on them to.  My husband told me they tasted like doughnuts with a hint of biscuit.  He must have liked them though because he ate all but 2 of them, the only 2 I beat him to!

This is a nice alternative to deep fried doughnuts!