Pizza bake #2

You may remember that back in September, I made a pizza bake. A few nights ago my daughter had a sleepover with her best friend so I made it again thinking it might be more fun than some of the other options on our meal plan for the week (like the adobo or halibut). And I was mostly right... They just picked some things out :/ The friend doesn't like mushrooms or pepperoni, which was news to me. My daughter doesn't like mushrooms so I already knew she would pick them out.

I may have liked this one even better than last time, and I think my husband may agree.

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
1 cup water
14 oz pizza sauce
8 oz pepperoni
2 cups shredded mozzarella
Half a carton of sliced mushrooms
Half a green bell pepper, diced

Steps:
Preheat oven to 375.
Mix water and Bisquick until a soft dough forms.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the bottom of a lightly greased 13x9 dish. The dough won't cover the entire dish.
Add 1 cup of pizza sauce as evenly as possible.
Arrange half of the pepperoni, half of the mushroom slices, and half of the bell pepper on top of the dough and sauce
Add 1 cup of cheese.
Repeat with the other half of the ingredients.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Easy fried eggplant

Our second attempt at eggplant Parmesan was even better than the first! It was super yummy and really easy. It was much like what I've had in restaurants and more of what I was hoping for when we decided to go ahead and make it.

Ingredients:
2 tbs canola oil
2 cups dry breadcrumbs
3 eggs beaten
1 large eggplant
Mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce.

Steps:
Peel and slice eggplant (the peeling seems optional. We didn't and it was plenty good and easy to eat.)
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in crumbs, and place in hot oil.
Fry 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Drain on paper towel.
While hot, top with mozzarella cheese and pasta sauce.

Crock Pot Adobo

My husband went on a mini crusade lately, to make two of the dishes that his mother made when he was growing up. One of them was mole, which I'll post later, and the other was adobo.

I had never had adobo before. Apparently it can be made with beef, pork, shellfish, or more popularly chicken. We made it with chicken and in the crock pot. It's a very vinegary and garlicky dish and is great served over rice.

This was a super delicious meal and I loved it. I'm so glad that my hubby introduced me to it. It also made fabulous leftovers! Maybe even better than when it was freshly cooked.



Ingredients:
1 1/3 medium onion sliced (we did a mix of yellow and red)
13 1/3 garlic cloves, crushed
7/8 cup soy sauce
1 2/3 cups chicken broth
7/8 cup vinegar
3 1/3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
5 lbs chicken pieces

Steps:
Remove skin from chicken and sear all sides quickly on high in a pan of oil.
Place chicken in crock pot, then onions, then the rest of the ingredients.
Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Serve over rice. Pour the liquid from crock pot over the rice, too. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

We also cooked our rice with a chicken bouillon cube in the water. We do this most of the time.

Bacon wrapped hotdogs

When grocery shopping last weekend I was surprised to see bacon wrapped hotdogs for sale. This is something I've done a few times myself and wasn't aware was a premade product on the market. I didn't come up with the idea, of course; I saw it somewhere online a long time ago. But man I wish I had been the one to market and sell it! It's always so disappointing to see something that you've done or had the idea for. That "if only I had been the one to try to patent it..." type of feeling. Things that seem so simple that nobody would sell it but then somebody does.

Anyway, it is cheaper to make myself! Buy bacon and hotdogs when they're on sale. I usually wait until hotdogs are BOGO free. And we buy whichever bacon is the cheapest because we aren't terribly picky, though for this, thinner bacon is a bit better.

All you need is bacon and hotdogs and whichever toppings you may want. I also use toothpicks to secure the bacon to the hotdog but it isn't totally necessary. If you're using a hotdog machine it will be but in a frying pan or the oven you shouldn't totally need them. I've tried the hotdog machine and frying pan but haven't done the oven yet. So anyway, you just have to wrap the bacon around the hotdog and cook it until the bacon is as done as you like (I prefer soft and my husband prefers crispy). If you use toothpicks put then in the end of the hotdog so that they don't sit on your pan or interfere with the hotdog spinning in the machine.

Garlic oregano French fries

We're trying really hard to meal plan in my home right now. We're on a pretty strict food budget so it is kind of crucial to do as much from scratch as possible and take advantage of sales and coupons. Tonight we did bacon wrapped hotdogs with chili and cheese, a salad, and the fries below.

I got this recipe off Pinterest. I was specifically looking for a French fry recipe because we've got plenty of potatoes in the house so I wasn't about to buy a package of frozen ones. I don't think I've ever made French fries before and if I have, obviously they weren't great because they didn't leave a lasting impression.

My family all really liked these, especially my 6 year old. They didn't need any condiments. I tried them with mustard and they were much better without. I didn't even bother with ketchup because they were just so yummy alone.

Ingredients:
3-4 large potatoes
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs garlic powder
2 tsp black pepper
2 tbs oregano
2 tsp parsley
Salt to taste

Steps:
1. Wash and cut potatoes. Keep them as uniform in size as possible.
2. Place potatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle seasoning on potatoes as evenly as possible.
3. Mix thoroughly and evenly space.
4. Bake for 25 minutes at 425 degrees. Flip the fries and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan

My husband and I are in the process of trying out various eggplant Parmesan recipes right now to see which we like best. Here is the one we tried tonight. We liked this one (so did my 6 year old) and we're anxious to try more versions of this!

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2" slices
Cooking spray
1/3 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt


After eggplant is peeled and sliced, lay it on a baking sheet and lightly salt the slices. Let them sit for a few minutes then pat them dry.
Set oven to broil. Generously spray both sides of the eggplant slices with cooking spray. Broil with tops 4 to 5 inches from heat about 10 minutes, turning once, until tender.
While eggplant is broiling, mix Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs; toss with oil.
Heat spaghetti sauce until heated through. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.
Sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese over eggplant slices. Spoon bread crumb mixture over cheese. Broil about 1 minute or until cheese is melted and crumbs are brown. Top eggplant with spaghetti sauce and remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.

Frozen berry soda cobbler

This is super easy! I saw it on Pinterest and tried it out. The first time it went all wrong. I used Mountain Dew because that's what I had on hand, but it didn't fizz at all so the cake mix didn't cook at all. Lame. But this time it worked out, and here is how...

One package of frozen blackberries
One can of Sierra Mist Natural
One package of dry cake mix

I emptied the berries into a baking dish, poured the dry cake mix on top as evenly as possible, and then did the same with the can of soda.

I baked it at 350 degrees for about an hour. I just kept checking and took it out when the whole top was golden brown.

It was delicious! My 5 year old and husband put whipped cream on theirs but I'm not a fan of whipped cream so I didn't.

Cajun baked chicken stuffed with pepper jack cheese and bacon

I originally saw this on Pinterest and added it to my meal plan for this week. My fiancé and I loved it. My 5 year old thought it was too spicy, so next time I'll season her piece a bit differently.

You can find the original recipe at this link - http://cuckooking.blogspot.com/2010/08/cajun-chicken-with-pepper-jack-cheese.html?m=1 - or you can check out mine below (with very subtle changes).

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 c frozen spinach, thawed and drained (you can also use fresh cooked spinach)
extra light olive oil
2.5 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1.5 tbsp Italian breadcrumbs
salt and black pepper, to taste
Lots of toothpicks


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Flatten the chicken as much as possible.

In a medium bowl, combine the pepper jack cheese, spinach, salt and pepper.

Combine the Cajun seasoning and breadcrumbs together in a small bowl.

Spoon about 1/4 c of the spinach mixture onto each chicken breast. Roll or fold each chicken breast tightly and fasten the seams with several toothpicks. I used about 5 toothpicks in each. Be sure to count how many total toothpicks were used.

Brush each chicken breast with the olive oil. Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning mixture evenly over all. Sprinkle any remaining spinach and cheese on top of chicken (optional).

Place the chicken seam-side down onto a baking sheet with any open side facing up. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove the toothpicks before serving. Count to make sure you have removed every last toothpick.

I paired this with garlic bread and some veggies (zucchini, bell pepper, onion, etc) in a marinara sauce.

Pizza bake

Mmm! Quick, easy, delicious, and filling! This was a hit with my fiancé (he had 3 helpings) and my daughter (she went back for seconds). And me of course! Next time I will probably add another pizza-suited veggie or two, though my fiancé doesn't like olives or chunks of tomato so I'm not sure what!

Ingredients
About 2.5 cups Bisquick
About 1.25 cups water
About 2.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (14 oz) jar of pizza sauce
1 (8 oz) package of pepperoni
Half cup of sliced bell pepper
Half cup of sliced white mushrooms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a baking dish (approximately 13x9).

Mix the Bisquick and water until soft dough forms. Drop HALF of the dough by spoonfuls onto bottom of baking dish. The bottom of the dish will not be completely covered.

Drizzle HALF of the pizza sauce over the dough and dish.

Lay HALF of the pepperoni evenly over the dish. Sprinkle all of the vegetables on top of that.

Distribute a cup of the mozzarella evenly over the dish.

Repeat the above steps with remaining ingredients.

Bake for about 25 minutes.

Homemade chili mac with bacon

Simple and filling dish - though not too healthy LOL

Two boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese cooked as directed. While that's cooking, bake some bacon (my thick cut was at 400 degrees for maybe 17 minutes). After the mac'n'cheese is all made, add one can of chili (with or without beans - this time was without). Then cut up the slightly cooled bacon (after blotting off any grease) and mix it all together.

I add grated cheese when serving.

Reese's cookie brownies

Another idea from Pinterest :)

I make a package of chocolate chip cookies and then pressed some dough into greased cupcake tins.

Then put a Reese's cup into each cupcake tin.

After that I made a package of brownies and put a bit on the top of each Reese's.

I baked them at 350 degrees for 18 minutes and let them cool down a lot before removing from the pan and eating. They're yummy! Or as my fiancé said "they're bomb" LOL.

Chili, waffle fries, and hamburgers

A while back we had hamburgers and waffle fries... My pregnant self thought that combining the two and adding chili (with beans) would be scrumptious so I tried it, and I was right!

Literally just baked some frozen waffle cut French fries and cooked some hamburgers, tossed the burger on a bun, added chili, added some of the waffle fries, topped it with more chili, and added the top bun. Mmm!

Bacon, avocado, and Colby jack paninis

This is another one inspired by Pinterest. I saw a pin of bacon, avocado, grilled cheese sandwiches which sounded heavenly. So I got some avocados, bacon, and Colby jack cheese. I sliced up the avocado and fried the back, and made thick slices of the cheese then threw them together on some sourdough bread (no condiments) and grilled them in our panini press. Super yummy!

Next time I might try more of an avocado spread so there's definitely avocado in each bite but otherwise they were delicious.

Mexican style hotdogs

I got this idea from a local restaurant that we used to have here in town. It was a hotdog place that had a really good "southwest" hotdog. For dinner one night last week, we made our own version...

I wrapped each hotdog in a slice of bacon (got that idea online) and then fried them in a pan. After tossing that into a bun, I added homemade guacamole, salsa, sour cream, shredded Mexican blend cheese, and topped it with crumbled tortilla chips. My fiancé also added green onions to his. Then on the side we just did super basic nachos and corn. Mmm.

Alfredo chicken (crockpot)

I saw a pin on Pinterest for two ingredient crockpot meals and got the idea for this. It was delicious! Could maybe use a little bit more in the spices category, but it was also great as is.

4 frozen chicken breasts,
6 red potatoes quartered,
Ground black pepper,
Minced onion,
Garlic flavored seasoning salt,
Bertolli Alfredo sauce,
Crockpot on high for 6 hours.

I'd probably do low if the breasts were thawed, but I hadn't preplanned. And the spices were just eyeballed. I added them once (as pictured) and then again once more after 3 or 4 hours (I stirred up the sauce a little bit and then added more). Also, to get all the sauce from the jar, I added some milk and shook it up, then added that in initially - a trick I learned from my mom (with red sauces I just use water).

Oreo cupcakes

I saw this idea on Pinterest a little while ago, and decided to try it out. It's super simple! After laying out your cupcake papers, put one Oreo cookie (I used the double stuffed kind) in each paper and then add your cupcake mix (I used a boxed mix). Bake as normal and then if course wait until cooled to frost them.

I would love to do a chocolate cake mix and get a peanut butter frosting - that just sounds amazing to me.

WFD: August 8, 2011 - Chicken, pasta, asparagus

I wanted to make a nice dinner for my dad (and the rest of the family) to thank him for fixing the latch on the trunk of my car, and this is what I came up with...

First I marinated the chicken (I think it was 6 boneless, skinless breasts) in this:

1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper (ground)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup white wine

We don't keep fresh herbs in the house, but we have a TON of dried herbs and spices, so that's what I use.  After marinating the chicken for about 3 hours, I cooked them a bit on both sides (in a grill pan) until they became opaque on those sides, then I popped them into the oven to finish cooking. I had preheated the oven to 370 degrees (Fahrenheit) and baked them for 25 minutes (covered in foil for 20, and uncovered for the last 5), checking them periodically. They stayed really moist which was my goal, and they weren't over or underdone, so hurray!

For side dishes, I just did a rotini pasta with a garlic butter sauce (just butter and garlic powder, honestly) and some veggies in it, and then some steamed asparagus with grated Parmesan cheese on it. The vegetables are all frozen ones.

Normally I'm more of a crock pot person/casserole, so while this isn't a fancy meal, it's not my usual thing. I still baked the chicken versus grilling or boiling or anything, but it went over well.

Pasta for lunch

I need to go grocery shopping. Pretty bad. So yesterday for lunch I threw together a simple pasta dish. I took photos while I was doing it, and since it turned out well, I thought I would share it :)

Ingredients:
1 lb ground, mild Italian sausage
1 can of black, pitted olives cut into fours
1 package of spaghetti noodles
1 jar of vodka sauce
Mozzarella cheese

While my noodles were boiling and my sausage was browning, I drained my olives and cut each one into four pieces

Next I added my browned meat

I added a bit of my vodka sauce to my meat/olive mixture and let that sit for a moment while my noodles finished cooking, and then while I drained them

Added the pasta

Topped it with some cheese, though not too much because my daughter doesn't like cheese

And voila - lunch! (cheese melted in)

Hash Brown Casserole

I brought dinner to my man last night, and opted to try a new recipe; hash brown casserole. It was pretty darn good! I made it late morning at home, and then we reheated it for dinner at his place. I really liked it, but am anxious to try it again where I can eat it fresh out of the oven. Mmm!

The recipe is by Paula Dean, and where she uses 8 cups of cubed French bread, I used a mix of French and wheat bread. I did it for 50 minutes because usually my oven needs 5 more minutes than what most foods suggest, but I think 40 or 45 would have been best.

Ingredients
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
* 4 cups frozen shredded hash browns
* 1 pound bulk sausage, mild, hot or sage
* 2 1/4 cups whole milk
* 8 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
* 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
* 1 loaf French bread, cubed (no crust)
* 5 slices wheat bread, cubed
* 2 cups (1/2 pound) grated Cheddar
* 2 cups (1/2 pound) freshly grated Parmesan

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a deep 13 by 9-inch casserole dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan.

Add the onion and saute over medium-low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the hash browns and break apart. Saute until soft, about 5 minutes.

In a second frying pan, saute the sausage, breaking apart large clumps. When the sausage is cooked through, remove it from pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and mustard, briskly to blend.

To assemble, spread the onions and hash browns evenly at the bottom of the greased dish. Place the bread cubes evenly on top of hash browns. With a slotted spoon distribute sausage as the third layer. Pour the milk and egg mixture over these layers. Add Parmesan as the next layer, while then adding the Cheddar.

Save a few tablespoons of Cheddar for the last 10 minutes of baking, where you can add a fresh topping of melted Cheddar.

Bake the casserole, uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.

I didn't get a photo of it cut and served, because I just didn't think about it at the time, but you can see one by clicking here, where you can also find the original recipe.