Beef Noodle Casserole

This casserole is very simple and packed with flavor! I've made it twice now and Dave and I both enjoyed it very much! I found the recipe on a blog called Dining Alone. I've tried a number of recipes from this blog and they never disappoint. Since the recipe is only meant to serve 3 I would probably double it next time to have leftovers for lunch. There wasn't a need to make any modifications, but if I'm being honest...I used quite a bit more than 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese:)


Beef Noodle Casserole

2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 can (8-ounces) tomato sauce
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup canned chopped green chilies
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese (I used more like 3/4 cup)

Directions
Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, onions, chilies, garlic and salt. In a small bowl, combine sour cream and cream cheese. Drain noodles.

Place 1/2 cup beef mixture in a 1-qt baking dish coated with cooking spray (I used a 1 and 1/2 qt dish and it worked just fine). Layer with half of the noodles, cream cheese mixture and cheese. Spread 1/2 cup beef mixture over cheese; repeat layers. Spoon remaining beef mixture over top. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover for the last 5 minutes to brown cheese on tip. Yield: 3 servings

Yummy Pot Roast in the Crock-Pot

A few nights ago I made a great Pot Roast Recipe in the Crock-Pot. Dave kind of grumbled when he heard that was what we were having for dinner because he said he normally associates pot roast with being dry and bland. One bite of this meal changed his mind very quickly! He loved it and said it was a keeper recipe (I have to agree!). So I'll let his comments vouch for this rather than a picture...pot roast really the most photogenic meal and I don't want to discourage anyone from making this by posting ugly pictures;)

Crock-Pot Pot Roast
2 to 3 lb roast
1 small onion sliced (I used vidalia)
1 4oz can sliced mushrooms w/ juice
1/2 a pack of Lipton dried onion soup mix
1/3 cup dry red wine
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients except the cornstarch and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Once meat is done remove from crock-pot. Add cornstarch to a 1/2 cup of water and mix to dissolve. Pour water and cornstarch mixture into the sauce in crock-pot and mix to combine. Turn heat up to high until sauce has thickened. Slice meat and top with sauce.

I made it with mashed potatoes and topped them with sauce too...YUM! We also had a mixture of spinach and broccoli on the side. It was a super easy and tasty weeknight meal!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

This pizza recipe is awesome! I love buffalo wings, but I hate getting my hand all messy and chewing on the bone, etc (I know, I know...just eat BONELESS Buffalo wings) and I love pizza so I couldn't wait to try Rachel Ray's Recipe! I used a Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust and was pleasantly surprised. Now don't get me wrong, it in no way, shape or form compares to NY style pizza crust, but for a cheap and easy alternative I was impressed.

Here is the recipe and my recipe with the modifications below. I found it on Foodnetwork.com (with TONS of great reviews):

Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza
4 servings

3/4 pound chicken breast cutlets
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 teaspoons grill seasoning (I used McCormick Montreal Seasoning)
1 pizza dough, store bought or from your favorite pizzeria (I used Pillsbury)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce (I used Frank's, he's my fav!)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Dice chicken into very small chunks and place into a bowl. Drizzle diced chicken with olive oil and season with grill seasoning, mixed thoroughly so all chicken is coated

Saute chicken pieces in skillet until thoroughly cooked. Set aside

Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Stretch dough and press into cookie sheet until evenly distributed. Set pizza aside

In a separate medium skilled over medium heat, melt butter and stir in Worcestershire, hot sauce and tomato sauce.

Add chicken to the sauce and coat. Cover the pizza dough with the saucy Buffalo chicken, cheeses and bake 16-18 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is crisp.

Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese = Sooo good

This recipe is amazing, but as you can tell by the ingredients it is NOT healthy...at all! It is great if you are looking for a comforting and delicious meal on a night when you feel like splurging. It's TOTALLY worth the extra calories! I cut this recipe in half and it made more than enough for 2 people. We even had leftovers, but they didn't last long because Dave loved this dish:) I found the recipe here on Krista's Kitchen. She says she adapted it from a Rachel Ray recipe.

Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese (this is the FULL recipe, remember I cut mine in half)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound cavatappi-shaped pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded provolone
1 cup shredded Swiss
1/2 cup broth (chicken, beef, vegetable)
1 pkg Steak Umms slices, roughly chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped (I opted not to put parsley on mine)

Preparation

• Place a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring it to a boil.
• Once the water boils, cook the cavatappi to al dente according to package directions. Once the pasta has finished cooking, drain it and return it to the pot it was cooked in.
• While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the onions to the pan and top them with a lid or piece of aluminum foil for 2-3 minutes, just to get them cooking. Remove the lid or aluminum foil and continue cooking the onions until tender and lightly caramelized, 8-10 minutes.
• While the onions are caramelizing, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a medium-size pot. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and cook the mixture for about 1 minute. Whisk the milk into the butter-flour mixture slowly and bring up to a bubble to thicken. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and reserve.
• To the skillet with the onions, add the broth and the Steak Umms. Cook until the meat is no longer pink.
• Add the cheese sauce and the onion-beef mixture to the pot with the drained pasta and toss everything to combine. Transfer to a casserole dish. Top with additional cheese and parsley. Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Super Yummy Aussie Chicken

I made this for the second time last night...Dave calls it "The best chicken he has ever had" :) I found the recipe on Happy to be at Home website. I followed it exactly as written, except I added a little more mayo to the honey mustard sauce than it calls for. I also didn't have onion flakes so I used a little onion powder. Other than that no modifications and it was awesome!

Here is the recipe with my slight modifications:

Aussie Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness

2 teaspoons seasoning salt

6 slices bacon, cut in half

1/4 cup prepared mustard

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 tablespoon reserved bacon grease

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

Directions

1. Rub the chicken breasts with the seasoning salt, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet.
4. Cook over medium high heat until crisp; set aside.
5. In a medium bowl, combine the mustard, honey, mayonnaise and dried onion flakes.
6. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
7. Place the breasts in the skillet and saute for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until browned.
8. Remove from skillet and place the breasts into a 9×13 inch baking dish.
9. Apply the honey mustard sauce to each breast, then layer each breast with mushrooms and bacon.
10. Sprinkle top with shredded cheese.
11. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and chicken is done.

On the side I made some Garlic and Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes. I was inspired by this recipe on Andrea's Recipes blog but I made a few changes. See the recipe I followed below:

Garlic and Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
2-3 pounds Russet potatoes peeled, and cut into quarters
5 cloves garlic, peeled
water
1 teaspoon sea salt salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
½ teaspoon dried parsley

¼ teaspoon pepper

Preparation

1. In the 3-quart pot, cover the potatoes and garlic with water, add salt, and bring to a boil. Boil for about 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain.

2. Pour potatoes and garlic back into 3-quart pot. Put burner on low and whip potatoes and garlic briefly with the hand mixer.

3. Next use a spoon to stir in the, then add the sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Whip until desired consistency with the hand mixer; lastly stir in the thyme, parsley, and pepper.

And I leave you today with a picture of Winston snuggling with my How to Cook Everything cookbook. I hope he is learning by Osmosis and coming up with a good recipe! ;)

Cauliflower Soup

I'm sorry for the lack of posting. The weekend rolled around and I just didn't get a chance to update the blog. I have to admit...on the weekends I try to limit how much time I spend on the computer due to the massive amounts of time I spend on here during the week! Anyway...one night last week I made Cauliflower Soup from the Pioneer Woman Cooks website. As usual with her recipes it did not disappoint! I followed it exactly as written. I served it with some of those Pillsbury frozen biscuits. They puff up a little funny in the oven, but they still taste yummy! Both Dave and I thoroughly enjoyed the soup! It made A LOT so I was able take it to work for lunch the next day and I also frozen a portion of it (although I'm unsure of how well this will freeze...I'll keep ya posted!)

We enjoyed the soup with some Frontera Chardonnay which is inexpensive, but still pretty tasty!

Sorry for the blurry pictures...my camera's battery is dying and I seemed to have misplaced my charger! :(

This is Willow! She has taken to playing and rolling around right under my feet!

And this is Willow's Tail...It's huge and puffy (and Dave's feet...I think he was doing the dishes:))

I listed the recipe below...but I highly recommend you go here and see the beautiful step by step pictures that the Pioneer Woman posted. She's an amazing photographer (and cook!)

PW’s Mom’s Cauliflower Soup

1 stick butter
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 to 2 heads cauliflower, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh or dried parsley
2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth or stock
2 cups whole milk
6 tablespoons flour
1 cup half & half
2 to 4 teaspoons salt, to taste
1 generous cup sour cream, at room temperature

Directions

1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown. Add the carrots and celery and cook an addition couple of minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine. Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes.

2. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.

3. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half & half.

4. Add mixture to the simmering soup. Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.

5. Just before serving, place the sour cream in a serving bowl or soup tureen. Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour in remaining soup and stir.

Serve immediately.

Chicken and Dumplings

Well here is my first post on this good old (well new) blog. Last night I made Rachel Ray's Recipe for Chicken and Dumplings (with a few slight modifications). I persevered through Dave's attempts to convince me to switch up the weekly menu and make a different item that was listed. I was really in the mood for this comfort food classic so I made the authoritative decision that we were sticking with the original plan! I mean who doesn't like Chicken and Dumplings anyway!!!??

When I read the recipe I was unsure as to whether or not you were supposed to cook the diced chicken first or add it raw. I decided to be risky and just go ahead and add it raw since the mixture I was pouring it into was boiling. I diced the chicken first before chopping any vegetables. I cut it up into very small pieces so they would could quickly. I then put all of the pieces in a bowl and sprinkled the raw meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder mixing it all together with a spoon to disperse over the meat. Another modification was that I used the Bisquick biscuit mix (adding in dried parsley and garlic powder) rather than the Jiffy box mix. They were just as tasty! Lastly I poured in about half a cup of half and half at the very very end...because you know, why not! :) It was super yummy and will be added to my file of super yummy recipes (as opposed to my other files which contain "not so yummy" and "kinda yummy" recipes...although I'm not even sure why I'm keeping a "not so yummy" file...hmm I may need to eliminate that one!) Here is a picture (I didn't take any last night!) I took with my iphone of the leftovers I ate for lunch today -- They reheated VERY nicely...even if the picture isn't quite so nice:)

So without further ado...the recipe (with my modifications)

Chicken and Dumplings

• 1 and 1/2 pounds chicken breasts (you could get away with just 1 pound, there was A LOT of chicken)--sprinkled with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablesppons butter
• 1 russet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 tablesppons flour
• 1 quart chicken broth or stock (I used Kitchen Basics and it was good)
• Bisquick mix (follow directions on box and add some dried or fresh parsley flakes and garlic powder
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup half and half

Directions

• Dice chicken into very small bite size pieces, sprinkle with seasonings and set aside. Wash hands
• Place a large pot on stove over medium high heat. Add oil, butter, vegetables and bay leaf and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently
• Season mixture with salt, pepper and poutry seasoning. Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes. Stir broth or stock into the pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken to the broth and stir
• Place biscuit mix in bowl and complete as directed on box (add in parsley and garlic powder too). Drop tablespponfuls (or smaller-I like my dumplings more bite sized) of prepared mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low. Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to think sauce a bit. Stir peas into the pan and then add the half and half. Remove from heat and serve in shallow bowls