Fettuccine Carbonara aka Penne Carbonara

This recipe was by far a keeper. My husband and I loved it. Let's just say he only got 1 bowl of this delicious goodness, and I ate 3 bowls! (Not in the same day, of course!)

The recipe was inspired by All Recipes Bertoilli Fettuccine Carbonara, however, I actually used a different brand of sauce. I had to stick to the lightest version of Alfredo sauce that I could find, and at the local store, Ragu was the lightest I found. I also used penne pasta instead of fettuccine, since that is what I had in my pantry.

The ingredients I used for this dish:

1 16oz Box of Penne Pasta

1 Tbsp of Butter

1 Cup of Frozen Peas

4 Strips of Cooked, Crumbled Bacon
1 16oz Jar of Light Ragu Alfredo Sauce

1 Tbsp of Minced Onion

1 Tsp of Garlic Salt or to Taste

I cooked the penne pasta as directed on the box, but I added 1 Tbsp of butter to the boiling pasta. I added in the 1 cup of peas about 3-5 minutes before the noodles were done. Once the noodles and peas were cooked, I drained the dish and set aside. Meanwhile, I cooked the bacon in a skillet until crispy and then crumbled it into small pieces. I also used a paper towel to get all the excess grease off the bacon. If you want to make it even more easy, just buy the precooked bacon crumbles in the grocery store next to the salad toppings.

I put the drained pasta and peas back into the stock pot, then I added the bacon, Alfredo sauce, onion, and garlic salt. Stir it well, and you have dinner! I topped ours with a little bit of mozzarella cheese as well. Adding a small side salad and garlic bread works well with this meal.

I really loved the frozen peas. I have read that using canned peas works as well, but the frozen peas were more crisp instead of being mushy like the canned peas would have been.

This will be a staple in our household as we all loved it even my son who likes to throw the food rather than eat it! He gobbled it up too.

Fish Food

One thing I am really not very fond of is, Fish! I have just recently started to eat catfish, tilapia, and salmon. Those are the only three types of fish I can find that do not taste fishy! I was basically told that my diet should consist of 3 servings of fish a week. My first thought was...YUCK! I'm learning to love it though, one day at a time.

I decided to fix some tilapia. I used a cookie sheet layered with foil on the bottom then, I added 2 tsp of lemon juice and 2 tsp of pepper to each of the tilapia fillets and put it in the oven on 400* for about 30 minutes. It came out fabulous! I really enjoyed this meal. I added some canned carrots and peas, along with rolls. All of the sides came from my stockpile, thanks to great coupon deals.

Dakota had mixed reviews. He was not sure of the texture of the fish, so at first he would put it in his mouth then spit it out, then I got this great picture of him acting like he really didn't like the fish; however, by the end he was all smiles. I tried this meal again later and he wouldn't touch the fish. He may take a while to warm up to it just like his mommy had to!

Quick Snack

One of my son's favorite snacks is graham crackers and sliced banana. This is a quick snack for a busy day, and healthy!

Wordless Wednesday

Summer playtime with the cousins.

Veggie Turkey Casserole

Tonight, I tried Veggie Turkey Casserole. This is a quick and nutritious dish especially for toddlers.

The ingredients I used:

1 lb Ground Turkey

1 Can of Cream of Chicken

1 Can of Cream of Mushroom

1 12 oz Bag of Mixed Frozen Veggies

1 Tbsp Minced Onion

1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

Bread Crumbs

I cooked the turkey in a skillet on the stove until well done. Meanwhile, I combined all other ingredients in a bowl and mixed it together. Once the turkey was done, I added that to the mixture. I put it in a baking dish and then put a thin layer of bread crumbs over the top. I popped it in the oven at *375 for 20 minutes.

This dish turned out very well; however, it was a bit too creamy for me. I have made this dish in the past using Stovetop turkey stuffing as a base, and I prefer that because the stuffing gave it a bit more texture.

I may have wished for more texture, but my son thought it was perfect. Lately, he has been throwing most of his food in the floor, not a drop of this dish landed on the floor. He was begging for more! Then, after he was done and I took him out of his booster seat he turned around and started eating what had fallen into the seat. I am thrilled that he liked this dish so much because it was a healthy dish and something other than lunch meat!

Has anyone else made a similar dish? If so, what changes would you make?

Blueberry Smoothie

We recently took a trip to a local blueberry farm, which was featured on, KOTV, Channel 6. Click on the link to see the story and the video.

We were able to pick several blueberries, along with the employees picking us several more blueberries. Which means, we left with A LOT of DELICIOUS blueberries!

I have been trying to think of recipes to include blueberries in and recently read about making smoothies with them. I had never really thought of using blueberries in a smoothie; however, I am not a huge fan of fruit so really most fruit does not sound good to me. Although, I thought this cold smoothie would be a brilliant idea for my teething toddler.

I blended 1/3 cup of fresh blueberries, 2/3 cup of rice milk, and a handful of ice cubes in the blender. If you would like a more creamy taste use nonfat vanilla yogurt, and you can also use regular milk with this. I prefer to use yogurt, but my son does not tolerate it well, so I avoided that. It turned out pretty well and more like a slushy without the yogurt. My son LOVED it. I gave him 1/2 a cup of the blueberry smoothie and as soon as he drank that he was begging for more. This will be a usual snack for us or breakfast item. I will be trying some some different fruits as well.

What kind of smoothies do you like? Any good fruit combinations?

Mexican Dish

We cook several different Mexican dishes in our household. Both my husband and I really love these dishes, plus there are always tons of leftovers...which means? One less day of cooking for me!

I had originally started this dish planning to make enchiladas, then realized that I forgot to buy enchilada sauce at the store. Never fear, I love to improvise!

I cooked the 1 lb of chicken breast in the skillet using Weber's Kickin' Chicken seasoning. This can be seasoned to your taste, I used 1/2 tbsp. I cut the chicken breast into small chunks once it was cooked. I purchased 1 bag of burrito size flour tortillas and stuffed them with 5 chicken chunks, 1 tsp of corn, and 1 tsp of cheese. You can do more or less depending on how much you like. Once I had the tortillas stuffed, I placed them on a baking dish and then I put 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 tbsp of green chili's on top. I also added a small amount of cheese and corn to the top of the tortillas. Then, I baked it in the oven at *350 until it was crispy.

While this was cooking, I put on some Knorr's Spanish Rice.

They came out of the oven, and my husband and I were amazed at how good they were. I actually enjoyed them more than if I had used enchilada sauce. I liked that they were crispy.

Since we had a Mexican dish, Dakota had his usual lunch meat, cheese, bread, and veggie.

My husband's Ribs

My husband loves to smoke all different types of meats. He has just recently become aware of his new found love of smoking meats.

One of his favorite things to smoke is Ribs. He layers them with barbecue sauce and then leaves them on the smoker for several hours. He is very proud of his ribs, and will happily make them for anyone, so if you are ever at our house on a day where Steven is smoking ribs be aware that you will be staying for dinner!

Meanwhile, we will either put some corn on the cob on the smoker or I will boil some on the stove. I also make some potatoes using Lipton Onion Soup mix recipe on the back of the box.

I cut up the potatoes into small chunks, then I put it all in a Ziploc bag and add a 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 package of onion soup mix. I then mix it up in the bag and open the bag up then spread out the potatoes on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven. I usually leave it for about 45 minutes. This is my favorite way to eat potatoes! They are delicious.

Of course, I only get 1 rib due to the new restrictions on my diet. *Tear*...it's still delicious though and my hubby makes the best smoked meats!

We give Dakota the veggies from this meal and give him a different meat that is not as tough as rib meat.

This is our typical Sunday afternoon dinner, which works out great because my hubby has lots of leftovers to take to work throughout the week!

Veggie and Rice Medley

Stir Fry is one of my favorite dishes to fix. However, now I can not really fry anything due to it not being healthy. So, what's a girl to do? Make my own version that's what!

I cooked 1 lb of ground turkey in the skillet, I did add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil to give it a little bit of flavor. I purchased a bag of stir fry veggies from Target. I was able to heat those in the microwave and it steamed in the bag. I cooked 2 cups of brown minute rice on the stove while the veggies were heating up.

Once everything was cooked and heated, I added a layer of rice, veggies, and some meat to a bowl and mixed it up. I topped it with a bit of lite stir fry sauce and had a fabulous meal. I'll be fixing this again as it only took about 10 minutes and was delicious...and healthy!

Dakota was not very fond of it. I believe it was more the textures of the meat and rice that he did not care for. He ended up with some lunch meat with rice and veggies. He is now entering the stage where it's more fun to throw the food on the floor than eat it!

Turkey Burgers

I recently found out that I have high cholesterol. We believe it is most likely hereditary; however, after reading all the side effects of cholesterol lowering medicines and natural vitamins to lower cholesterol, I have decided to try my best to control it without medicines. This is mainly because most of the labels warn against potential side effects for women in their child bearing years. It was too much of a risk for me.

With this in mind, I am trying to cook with more lean meats and less red meats. I have been advised to only have 2-3 4oz servings of red meat a week, and fill the rest of the week with turkey, fish, and chicken.

I decided to try turkey burgers as oppose to the usual hamburgers. I was pleasantly surprised.

I made the turkey burgers in the skillet. I added 2 egg whites and 1 package of dry ranch dressing mix to the ground turkey. I mixed it in a bowl and then made patties out of the meat mixture. I put those on the skillet and cooked the burgers until they were well done.

I used 1 lb of ground turkey which made 5 burgers.

We topped them with our favorite burger toppings and we had a quick, easy meal.

It actually did not taste much different than using beef. My husband was even won over by the turkey! Good thing, because his food life is going to be full of turkey!

Stay Tuned...

I recently made the dive into the blogosphere with my new blog, Mommy Hates Cooking.

In my quest to find decent recipes, and good blogs for busy mom's who have to cook, I kept hitting dead ends. So, I thought I might as well start my own since I'm going to be trying all sorts of recipes each day. I have been cooking for a few months now, taking pictures daily, and gathering new recipes. I am slowly converting into someone who enjoys cooking the more I am able to try new things, that's the ultimate goal. I'm trying to take something that I hate and turn into something I love!

I am excited about the future of this blog and all the recipes I plan to share. Some of the upcoming
recipes that I'll be trying out include Parmesan Chicken, Lime Chipotle Fish, Shish Kabobs, Fish Taco's and many more. I am making a vow to try harder to watch the measurements so I can share the exact recipes with my readers.

I am also cooking for a 1 year old who is learning to be picky about his meals. I will soon be adding several tips and tricks along with meal ideas for toddlers. I am hoping to get creative with the toddler food ideas.

Food allergies are also a big part of our family. My son has had issues with milk since birth, he can now tolerate most dairy products except cow's milk. We are currently using an alternative to cow's milk. My nephew also has severe food allergies, and when he was born we all had a crash course in food allergies. I am researching many recipes that are allergy free and dairy free. I will be trying these out over time as well.

I'm sure I'll be adding stories about my lovely family too!

If there are any recipes that you think would be good for me to try, toddler meal ideas, or allergy free recipes, please feel free to email them to me at Mommyhatescooking@yahoo.com . If I use the recipe and post it, I will of course give a shout out to you for the recipe idea. I am learning more recipes and meal ideas daily so I love to hear about different foods to try.

Welcome to my love/hate relationship with cooking!
and Family :)

Wordless Wednesday

Dakota picking berries with daddy.

Improvising Fail

Almost all the meals I cook start with a basic recipe and then I improvise. It normally taste good; however, there are always those times were it is well...YUCK!

I tried to make Chicken Florentine. I honestly thought that I had what I needed, but I didn't. This dish made it to the trash can fast!

This was my end of the pay period and grocery supply was diminishing...dish!

I cooked the chicken with a little bit of lemon juice and a Italian dressing. I'm pretty sure that's the start of going wrong...that just sounds gross as I write it! I cooked some penne pasta. After draining the paste, I added some cream of mushroom to it with some garlic salt. I then mixed chicken in. I put 1 layer of spinach at the bottom of the baking dish. I added the noodle and chicken mixture then topped it with cheddar cheese and baked it in the oven.

All of those ingredients just sound nasty, but honestly it didn't taste bad just tasted like...nothing. My son loved it, which if he doesn't love it then it must be really bad!

My son had some of the dinner with some other leftover items before it hit the trash can and I resorted to my favorite...cereal.

I plan to try this recipe again though, hopefully with better luck and the correct ingredients!

Improvising fail!

Taco Night

One of my favorite nights is taco night! This usually lands on a weekend for us since that's when my husband is home for dinner.

I have many taco kits that I have purchased for FREE thanks to Money Saving Queen grocery saving methods.

I use 1 lb of beef, 1 bag or head of lettuce, and a package of shredded cheese along with my kit and I'm ready to start cooking.

I use precooked beef crumbles from National Steak and Poultry. These are absolutely amazing! All you have to do is heat them up in the skillet with 1/3 cup of water and 1 package of taco seasoning. I put the shells in the oven to warm up. After both the meat is warm and the shells, we build our tacos and eat up.

I cook Knorr's Spanish rice and 1 can of corn along with this meal.

The next day I mix the seasoned beef, rice, corn, and top it with cheese, heat it all up. It makes a nice Spanish rice dish. It's actually the main reason why I love taco night because of the next day rice dish! I love it.

I love cooking Mexican foods, so stay tuned for more Mexican dishes that are a bit more complicated!

Cooking with a Little Man

I cook with a 1 year old nearby, so I thought I would share a few ways of how I keep him occupied while I cook.

#1 Cook while he naps. This is my favorite time to cook; I can easily cook and clean up before he wakes up. Then, I just reheat the dinner before we eat.

#2 We recently made a WONDERFUL investment or I guess I should say grandpa recently made a WONDERFUL investment into Dakota's life and mommy's sanity with Leapfrog Fridge Phonics. Dakota loves Fridge Phonics and plays with it nearly the

entire time I cook.

#3 Another one of Dakota's favorite things to do is pull everything out of the drawers lids, towels, paper and anything he can find! This would be one of my least favorite ways to keep him busy, but he is happy so I'm happy!

#4 Snack time is the perfect time to cook! He stays entertained while watching me cook.

These are the tips I have, what do you have? What about more than one child...then what?

Skillet Steaks

Let's get one thing straight, I'm a steak girl! In light of recent findings, this poses a big problem, but for this post...I love steak!

I prefer my steak cooked on the grill, but since hubby was not home and I have not conquered the grill yet, I pulled out my trusty skillet!

I used sirloin steaks, purchased from National Steak and Poultry in Owasso, OK. (I'll give more of my meat secrets later!) I put garlic powder on both sides of the steak then cooked them in the skillet with a bit of Worcestershire sauce and a dollop of butter. I let it simmer on each side for about 7-10 minutes or until cooked to your preference.

The house smelled so good while these were cooking and they turned out pretty tasty to be skillet cooked!

Short steak story...I prefer mine medium well, I went to a fancy restaurant on vacation and ordered a medium well steak, which I red on their menu meant a very thin line of pink. They brought my steak out...medium RARE! The blood was running into my potatoes, and I thought I was going to be sick. I sent it back and they just recooked my medium rare steak and gave me my steak with bloody potatoes! Okay, I feel better now letting you know of my horrid experience. That steak and potatoes cost a lot of money to not be able to eat it!

To complete the meal, I used the new Kraft Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese, very similar in taste to Velveeta. Then, I added some peas and Rhodes rolls and we ate up. My son had the same meal; however, instead of steak he had lunch meat. Enjoy!

Meatball Friday Night

This meal had one restriction: No Noodles!

There are nights where I really do not want to cook, and I do not feel like getting out and driving 5 miles to get something to eat. Then, I usually go back and forth on if I should order take out although it's not in the budget. My solution to all the above problems...meatball subs!

-Hoagie Rolls

-Beef or Turkey Meatballs (I use the precooked, frozen meatballs)

-Marinara Sauce

-Mozzarella or Cheddar Cheese

I heat up a few meatballs in the microwave. Then, I add the meatballs to the hoagie rolls, drizzle some marinara sauce on top, and then add some cheese. I put them all on a cookie sheet and stick them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes to toast them and melt the cheese. I fixed a small side salad or if you want to have a junk food night, you can fix some french fries.

My son loves meatball sub night too; however, he has a different variation of this meal. I cut up a few meatballs for him, top it with some cheese and then give him 1/2 a toasted hoagie. Typically, I use wheat hoagies so that it's more nutritious, but this time the store was all out!

I also add a veggie to give him a balanced meal. We have dealt with extreme reflux over this past year and it seems to be improving greatly, but we are still not ready to introduce any foods with tomato base. So, no marinara for him!

This is a great quick fix for a Friday night after a long week!

Chicken Noodles

One of the biggest challenges for me is cooking something other than noodles; however, this meal was all about noodles! I guess I have not conquered that challenge yet!

Typically my cooking starts off with a recipe that I have found, then I improvise to the point it is nothing like the original! That would be how this meal came out.

Tonight, I made Chicken Noodles, very simple and for me that's a start.

The recipe consist of:

1 Bag of No Yolk Egg Noodles

1 Can of Cream of Chicken

1 Can of Chicken Broth

2 4.5oz Canned Chicken

1 Bag of Frozen Mixed Veggies

A Dash of Garlic Powder

A Dash of Basil

Note: I say a 'dash' this can be interpreted in many different ways, did I mention I never measure anything! This is 'Mommy Hates Cooking', right?

I cooked the egg noodles as instructed on the package. Then, in a skillet I added all the remaining ingredients and let them boil. After draining the noodles, I mixed the skillet mixture with the noodles and viola dinner is served. This only took about 20 minutes to cook and would be great with a whole wheat roll.

For me, it was bland, which is why I added the garlic powder; however, there was something missing. It needed maybe some type of spice? Suggestions?

My son on the other hand loved it. At first he was not sure and remnants of his indecisiveness landed all over the floor, but by the end his face was covered and he was hinting for more.

My husband's thoughts? MORE NOODLES!? He told me he has been made fun of at work for the amount of noodle dishes he brings. So, although he enjoyed it, I have made a vow to him that my next meal will not include noodles.

That's it and now on to the next cooking adventure!