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Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts

2.28.2011

McLinky Monday - Crock Pot Recipes

The RHOK















It's McLinky Monday...and I'm late to the party. 

Better late than never, right?  That should probably be my next tattoo...seems to be my life motto right now.

Mrs. Priss wants us to share our favorite crock pot recipes.  This is pretty easy for me, because I LOVE my crock pot.  Yes, I do.  I l-o-v-e it. 

I actually did a little semi-vlog for you while I was putting my beans on this morning, but it will NOT load.  My iPhone hates me today.

So, here's a recap:
  • 1 pound beans
  • 2 cartons beef stock
  • 1 pinto bean seasoning packet (or your own seasonings)
  • 1 cup diced ham
  • 2 T sugar...to taste (Granny's secret ingredient)
  • additional seasonings of your choice (i.e. pepper, salt, etc.)
Put beans, stock/broth, and seasonings in crock pot for 6-8 hours.  30 minutes before serving add in your ham and sugar.  In the meantime, throw together some cornbread or ham sandwiches.  And that's dinner!  Oh, and we have to have some sliced onion.  I know someone who is just gonna looooove that. ;)

Another crock pot recipe post:
Made-up Italian Chicken

Also, be sure you click over to McLinky Monday for an extensive collection of all sorts of yummy crock pot recipes!

Hope you're all having a great day!

Love and Rockets,
jennykate♥

2.17.2011

JennyKate's Baked Potato Soup

I don't think there is anything better than a hearty bowl of potato soup on a cold day. Here's how I make my potato soup...

Stars of the Show

  • 5 lb bag of potatoes
  • 1 lb bacon
  • butter
  • milk - quantity depends on your desired consistency
  • chicken broth (about 2 boxes or 4 cans)
  • minced garlic
  • 1/2 onion
  • a few stalks of celery
  • salt and pepper to taste
Supporting Cast

  • shredding cheese
  • crumbled bacon
  • chopped scallions (or green onions)
Act 1

  • fry bacon to crispy (or extra crispy...just how I like it)
  • save a little bacon grease and saute onions and minced garlic in bacon grease (or 1/2 stick of butter...or both, if you really want to clog your arteries)
  • crumble bacon

Act 2

  • clean and dice potatoes, and chop celery
  • boil potatoes, bacon, sauteed onions, garlic, and chopped celery in chicken broth, until desired tenderness (I like mine mushy, so I boil them for at least an hour)
Act 3
  • mash up potatoes (or don't, if you prefer chunky potatoes)
  • add in 1/2 stick of butter
  • add milk to desired consistency
  • allow to cook for an additional 30 minutes to an hour, so the flavors can mesh together (mesh - that's a technical term)

Grand Finale

  • serve up potato soup and top it off with some crumbled bacon, scallions, and shredded cheese (lots of shredded cheese)
  • Enjoy!

2.09.2011

JennyKate's Head Country Sloppy Joes

One of my boys' (big and little) favorite things for dinner is Sloppy Joes!  Mmmm.

Does that make you think of Adam Sandler's song Lunch Lady?

*song break*


Slop, sloppy joe.

Sloppy joe.

Slop, sloppy joe.

Come on.

Sloppy joe.

Slop, sloppy joe.

Yeah.

Sloppy joe.

Slop, sloppy, *farting noise* joe. 


Sloppy joe.OK, back to the recipe.  If you're not from Oklahoma, chances are you will not know what Head Country BBQ Sauce is.  Bless your heart.  'Cause let me tell you, it's gooooooood!  I guess, if you are one of the less fortunate and you don't have Head Country at your disposal, you'll have to improvise.

Stars Of The Show:
  • Ground Hamburger or Ground Turkey - we prefer hamburger over the turkey because it has better flavor.  I brown 2lbs for the 3 of us, so that we can have leftovers, but 1lb should make 4 good servings.
  • Head Country BBQ Sauce
  • Head Country BBQ seasoning (to taste)
  • A whole onion
  • 1 tbs. minced garlic (for 2lbs)
  • 4 tbs. brown sugar (for 2lbs)
  • Pickles

Act 1:
  • Brown meat w/ of the onion finely chopped, minced garlic, and Head Country BBQ seasoning.

Act 2:
  • Slice the other half of the onion for garnishment and really bad breath.
  • After meat is brown, drain off any excess grease.  I use a really low fat hamburger (usually 93/7), so I don't have to do this part.
  • Stir in BBQ Sauce to desired consistency/thickness.

Grand Finale:
  • Serve up on toasted buns.
  • Garnish with onions and pickles...pickles are a MUST when you're eating Sloppy Joes or BBQ.
  • Don't forget some yummy fries (oven baked, of course) or some Lays Potato Chips!
  • Enjoy!

2.02.2011

JennyKate's Made-Up Italian Chicken

I was referring to it as Made-Up Crock Pot Chicken Crap, but word on the street is that name isn't very appealing.  So, I shortened it.

Stars of the Show:
  • Chicken (duh) - a 3lb bag of chicken breasts
  • Chicken broth or stock - 1 box (or two cans. whatev)
  • Diced tomatoes (the Italian variety...seasoned with oregano and basil) - 1 can
  • Tomato paste - 1 can
  • McCormick Italian Chicken seasoning packet
  • tablespoon of minced garlic (from the jar) or maybe a couple of gloves if you go the fresh route.
You could also add in mushrooms, onions, additional spices, etc.  I was trying to keep it Isaiah friendly.

Act 1:
  • Put all the ingredients into your crockpot.
  • Turn your crock pot on and set it to low, if you want to cook it for 8+ hours, or set it to high if you would like it to cook faster and be finished in 4 hours.
Be sure to plug the crock pot in.  That's very important.  I know it sounds crazy, but that darn chicken will NOT cook if the crock pot isn't plugged it.  Trust me.

Act 2:
  • Come home from a long days work...slaving away in the salt mines...or whatever it is you do during the day.
  • Chicken is smelling up the house nicely.  I mean that in a good way.
  • Boil some pasta of your choice.  I recommend linguine or thin spaghetti.

  • Grate some fresh Parmesan Reggiano or if you don't love your family as much, just get the Parmesan in the jar out of the refrigerator.

The Grand Finale:
  • Pile up some pasta.
  • Put a yummylicious piece of chicken and some of the "sauce" over the pasta.
  • Sprinkle or, in my case, shovel some Parmesan over the top.
  • Enjoy!
Oh, and be sure to serve it on a paper plate, because that's real classy.

12.06.2010

McLinky Monday - Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes

The RHOK

Mrs. Sinclair over at The RHOK wants us to share our favorite Holiday Cookies and the recipes, of course!

I've been in the baking mood, but I've yet to bake.  I've bought ingredients, but I haven't put them to use yet.  I've also bought some adorable boxes to put my goodies in, but they're still empty.  I plan on doing that this week...or maybe over the weekend.  I have to allot a whole day to nothing but baking.  I usually make some chocolate dipped pretzels, and a really yummy candy bar fudge along with some of my favorite cookies recipes.

You know, something like this...

Ala Cher from Clueless.  Plop a whole roll of cookie dough on a baking sheet and toss it in the oven. 

I kid.

My FAV holiday cookies are simple.  I usually gravitate toward the shortbread and butter cookies.  I just love them and they go GREAT with a cup of coffee.

Here are my best cookie recipes:
Pecan Shortbread Recipe:
(Source:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/ )

Ingredients


  • 3/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups small diced pecans
Directions

Cook's Note: This recipe can easily be doubled, as what was shown in the episode.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter/sugar mixture. Add the pecans and mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
  • Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut into 2 1/2-inch squares with a plain or fluted cutter (or cut into any shape you like). Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.
  • Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve.
Almond Butter Cookies
(Source:  http://www.gooseberrypatch.com/ )

Do you buy Gooseberry Patch cookbooks?  If you don't, you should.  They are FANTASTIC!!  I'll be having a giveaway for one later this week, so stay tuned!

OK, back to the recipe...
Ingredients
  • 1 c. butter
  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 1 t. almond extract
  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 t. baking powder
  • 1/4 t. salt
Directions
  • Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat about 10 seconds, until very soft but not melted. Stir together butter, sugar and extract. Add dry ingredients; mix well. If dough seems too dry, add another tablespoon or so of butter. Form into one-inch balls; place on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten to 1/4-inch thickness with the bottom of a glass jar. Bake at 400 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool. Drizzle Chocolate Glaze over cookies; let stand until glaze sets. Makes 5-1/2 to 6 dozen.
Chocolate Glaze:
  • 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 t. shortening
In a small saucepan, stir ingredients over very low heat until melted and smooth.

What are your favorite holiday cookies?

For more great recipes, hop on over to The RHOK!

~jennykate♥

11.08.2010

McLinky Monday - Thankful For Food

This Week's Question @The RHOK is:
What is your favorite food at Thanksgiving dinner?

Lord knows this is a good topic for me.  I love food.  I love Thanksgiving...and I especially love Thanksgiving food!

Our Thanksgiving takes place at my Granny's house.  If you read one of my posts from last week, you know that my Granny is the best cook EVAH!  She's better than the Pioneer Woman, for reals.  She deserves her own cooking show.  We've thought about compiling a collection of her recipes into a cookbook, but how do you do that with a person who cooks with a "little of this" and a "pinch of that"?  I guess Granny's recipes will have to just continue to be passed down and enjoyed by her family.  Lucky me!

So, since my Granny is such a stellar cook, she is in charge of all the important stuff like turkey, dressing, and gravy.  As a side note, we have DRESSING, not STUFFING.  It's a rule at the Barney house...no stuffing.  The side dishes are left up to the rest of us...well, some of us.  There are a couple of people and I won't mention any name *achem, V and mom* who aren't allowed to don't really cook side dishes.  My Aunt Bev makes the best broccoli and cheese casserole you have EVER tasted.  She also makes some amazing hot rolls.  Somebody makes mashed potatoes...there are a couple of people who are qualified to do that.  (We take this food making business serious.)  I like to believe that I am pretty good at making green bean casserole.  I've confessed my LOVE of green beans on the blog before.  I think that if you really love something, that kind of helps you to be good at it...so, I'm a good green-bean-casserole-maker!

Here's my recipe: (I prepare for a large family, so excuse the quantities.  You may need to cut everything in half)

4 cans of green beans
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
1 large can of french fried onions
Worcestershire sauce (If you can say this correctly, I would like to give you some sort of award)
black pepper

Combine green beans, soup, milk, worcestershire (to taste), black pepper (to taste), half of french friend onions and 1 cup of cheese.  Put ingredients into baking dish.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350.  Then top with remaining cup of cheese and french friend onions and bake for an additional 10 minutes (cheese should be bubbling/melty).

Sometimes I even substitute the cheddar flavored french fried onions.  It's delish!!

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

The RHOK
Head over to The RHOK for more Thanksgiving dishes and recipes!!

10.26.2010

Easy As "Pie"

A few weeks ago, I volunteered in Isaiah's classroom. 
His teacher had been doing a unit on apples and as her grand finale, she made apple pies with the kiddos.  We didn't make a traditional pie.  We made these little individual "pies" out of biscuits and pie filling.  
Super easy!  VERY delicious!


Ingredients:

  1. refrigerated biscuits (I used Grands Buttery Flavored Biscuits)
  2. pie filling (your choice)
  3. cooking spray
  4. sugar (optional)
  5. cinnamon (optional)
Directions:

  • Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.
  • Spray your cookie sheet w/ cooking spray
  • Press out your biscuit as big as you can make it without it tearing apart.
  • Put 1-2 spoonfuls of pie filling in the center of the biscuit.
  • Fold the biscuit over making a pocket for the pie filling.  Press the edges of the biscuit together.
  • Sprinkle with sugar (and cinnamon).
























  • Bake for about 13-15 minutes.  I would just keep an eye on them and pull them out when they get a to be a nice golden brown on the top.
  • Serve warm by themselves or with ice cream...or cool whip!
We made some more over the weekend with blueberry pie filling and they were YUMMY!!

What is your favorite thing to bake this time of year?

1.23.2010

Fav Weight Watcher Recipes

Here's a few of my fav WW recipes!

Shrimp and Angel Hair Pasta - 8 points for 1 serving - makes 4 servings

3 medium scallion(s), chopped
1 Tbsp fresh oregano, or 2 tsp dried
1 tsp lemon zest
3 oz feta cheese
1 cup(s) plain fat-free yogurt
14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes, drained (I use Rotel for a little kick)
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
8 oz uncooked angel hair pasta
8 oz shrimp, medium-size, cleaned, peeled and deveined
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

In a food processor, process scallions, oregano and lemon zest until scallions are finely minced (or just chop them up, if you're short on time). Add half the feta cheese, crumbling and reserving remaining feta in a small bowl. Add yogurt and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in diced tomatoes and reserved feta. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add shrimp to boiling water and cook until done, about 2 minutes (less if you are using small shrimp). Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and add to sauce. Do not drain water. When water returns to boil, add pasta and cook until al dente, about 2 minutes. Combine with sauce and serve.

You can substitute chicken for the shrimp. You can also add Kalmata olives for a greek flair! It's Yummy!

Cheesy Chili-Mac - 5 points per serving - makes 8 servings

1 spray(s) cooking spray
2/3 pound(s) raw extra lean ground beef
2 medium onion(s), chopped
29 oz canned crushed tomatoes, Mexican-style (undrained)
2 1/2 cup(s) canned tomato juice
4 oz canned green chili peppers, diced, drained
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cup(s) uncooked macaroni, elbow-size
31 oz canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup(s) low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
(sometimes I use 2 cans of Rotel in place of the 29 oz can crushed tomatoes and the 4 oz can green chilis)

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray; set over medium-high heat. Cook beef and onion until meat is browned, stirring and breaking up meat with a spoon as it cooks, about 10 minutes; drain off fat.
Stir in undrained tomatoes and their juice, tomato juice, chili peppers and chili powder; bring mixture to a boil.
Stir in macaroni and beans; return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until macaroni is tender, about 15 minutes. Spoon chili into bowls and sprinkle with cheese. Yields about 1 cup chili and 1 tablespoon cheese per serving.


Taco Soup - 2 points per cup

•1 lb. ground turkey or lean beef
•1 large onion, chopped
•1 (1 oz.) package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
•1 (1 oz) package Taco Seasoning Mix
•1 (16 oz.) can pinto beans
•1 (16 oz) can chili beans (either hot or regular)
•1 (16 oz) can whole kernel corn
•1 (8 oz) can Mexican-style tomatoes
•1 (8 oz) can diced tomatoes (any flavor)

Directions
1.Brown meat & onions and drain.
2.Mix Ranch & Taco seasonings into meat.
3.Add rest of ingredients, undrained to mixture.
4.Simmer 1 hour.

This is delish served w/ baked tortilla chips and low fat shredded cheese.

Chocolate Cake - 2 points for 1/12 of the cake

1 devils food cake mix
1 - 15 oz can of pumpkin

Mix together. Bake according to directions on cake mix. It's sooooooo moist and yummy!

Chocolate Pie w/ Peanut Butter Crust - 3 points for 1/6 of the pie

1 box sugar free chocolate pudding
2 cups skim milk
1 1/2 cups rice crispies
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp peanut butter

Make pudding according to the pie recipe on the box. Set aside in refrigerator to set up. Mix together honey, peanut butter, and rice crispies. Press mixture into a pie pan. Spoon pudding into crust. Allow to set up in refrigerator for about an hour (or until the pie is set). Top w/ sugar free whipped topping! Soooooooo good!

Oatmeal Pecan Lace Cookies - 2 points per cookie - recipe should yield 18 cookies

1 1/4 cup(s) rolled oats
1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar, packed
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup(s) chopped pecans, finely chopped
1/8 tsp table salt
1/3 cup(s) butter, melted
1 large egg(s), beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350ºF and cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Mix oats, sugar, baking powder, pecans and salt together in a large bowl until well incorporated.
Add butter, egg and vanilla to oat mixture; mix well.
Drop teaspoonfuls of batter onto prepared cookie sheets and flatten each out, leaving at least 2-inches between each cookie.
Bake cookies until edges turn golden, about 8 to 12 minutes. Let cookies stand on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Yields 2 cookies per serving.
(my friend made these at Christmas and they are SO SO yum! totally worth 2 pts!)

Do you have a fav low-cal/WW recipe? Do share!

10.22.2009

Thursday Thankfuls and an Easy Peasy Greek Pasta Recipe

You have no idea how THANKFUL I am that it's Thursday! It has been quite the week. I've kind of been in a funk this week. It's not been all puppy dogs and rainbows. Monday was definitely a Monday...in every since of the word. I got in trouble like all day at work. If it was wrong, it was my fault. Isaiah had a soccer game on Monday evening that I knew nothing about. It was supposed to just be practice. We were late and he had no uniform on...it was embarrassing. Speaking of late, Isaiah was late to school on Tuesday. Then he was almost late again on Wednesday. Yesterday was Weight Watchers and I gained 1.6 pounds...exactly what I had lost the last time I weighed in two weeks ago. I looked back in my log and I haven't lost a single ounce since August 19! I'm at exactly the same weight (down to the tenth of a pound) I was in August...two months with no weight loss. It is so frustrating. Even though I've been in this funk, it's still important to list my "thankfuls"...actually more important.

Today I am thankful for...
  • My kiddos I teach at church. They really boost my spirits. We've been getting ready for our Harvest Festival at church and last night we made posters to decorate the church. Our theme this year is Superheroes...I can't wait!
  • Party planning for New Moon. I LOVE party planning and I LOVE Twilight/New Moon, so planning this party has been the most fun! I'll start posting some pics of the things I've bought so far and let you guys know what I have planned.
  • Party in the USA! "Noddin' my head like yeah...movin my hips like yeah..." You guys know this song, right? The new Miley Cyrus song. If you haven't heard it, you must. I play it in my car or in my office at least 5 times a day.
  • Edward and Jacob in my office. No matter how bad the day is, when I look behind my door and see those FSE and FSJ, I have no choice but to smile. :)
  • The days of sunshine we've had. I was in desperate need of some natural vitamin d! It's raining and yucky again today, but maybe the sun will come out tomorrow..."when I think of day that's gray and lonely. I just stick up my chin and grin and sayyyyyyy...oooooooooo...the sun will come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, they'll be sun..." Ok, enough of me serenading you guys. :)
Now for my easy peasy (made up) Greek Pasta recipe.

I was so craving some Greek Pasta like you would get at Zio's or the version they used to serve at Olive Garden, so Monday night I made up my own version. It was so good. I'd like to share.

Jenny's Easy Peasy Greek Pasta
  1. Tyson Grilled Chicken Strips (in the freezer section...the whole bag)
  2. 1 can of Rotel (drained)
  3. 1/2 jar Kalmata olives (or the whole jar, if you like them as much as me)
  4. 1/4 cup chopped shallots (or onions would work)
  5. 2 Tabelspoons olive oil
  6. dash of parsley
  7. a little of the liquid (about 1/4 cup) out of the Kalmata Olive jar (if you don't use this then you'll need some liquid like chicken broth or something)
  8. Whole Wheat Penne Pasta (I cooked the whole box, but only used about 2/3)
  9. feta cheese
Start by putting your pasta on to boil. In a skillet, throw in your chicken and drizzle with the 2 T olive oil, Rotel, olives, olive juice (or chicken broth), shallots, and parsley. Let that just simmer and cook. Drain pasta. Toss with chicken mixture. Sprinkle feta cheese on top. Serve. Enjoy! It's delish and tastes pretty close to what I've had in restaurants. Oh, and it's healthy too!! I'm guessing the points to be 9 points (for 1 cup of pasta and 3 oz of the chicken mixture w/ 2 T crumbled feta cheese...plenty for dinner)! Pair with a salad dressed w/ balsalmic vinegar and olive oil. Yumm-O!

8.20.2009

Hodgepodge

This post is just a hodgepodge of random thoughts. I was thinking that perhaps I made that word up in my mind, because I do that often, but then quickly opened up another browser window and punched it in to the hand-dandy http://www.dictionary.com/ and found out that I did NOT make it up! whew. It means a"heterogeneous mixture". Yep, that's what this post is going to be a heterogeneous mixture. I like using big words. That one is going into my long term memory. So, I said I was going to blog more frequently and here I am. I know you're stoked.

First, I would just like to say that I am ECSTATIC that football is right around the corner, hence the new blog header. I love my SOONERS! There is only ONE Oklahoma...you did know that right? If you're unsure, you should watch this video...







Are you PUMPED? I am. I love it.



Second, I would just like to say for my fellow Twi-holics out there that we are now a mere 92 days away from NEW MOON!! Wow. Have any of you been to a TwiCon? I want to go to one. Like bad. There are about 10 of them coming up in the next year. I want to be at one of them. I'm not sure what they do at a Twilight Convention, but I want to find out.


Maybe one of them will show up?

Random topic #3, I weighed in at WW yesterday for the first time since vacation and I gained half of a pound. I was disappointed yesterday, but today I decided I'm going to look at it as an accomplishment. I mean, I did go on vacation for 6 days and totally enjoyed myself while I was gone...no regrets. I WILL do better this week. I've been drinking water like crazy. I wish there was a way to drink lots of water and not go to the bathroom every 22 minutes. ugh! I brought lots of veggies and fruit with me to work today. No eating out!

I thought I would share an easy Weight Watcher recipe with you. It may not sound very good, but you should try it...you might like it!

Bean Soup

1 can beef broth

1 can fat free re-fried beans

1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes and peppers)

Mix all three cans together and bring to a low boil.

It's fast and easy...and only 1 point per cup on WW! You can put a ham sandwich or a veggie quesadilla with this soup and it's a yummy low-point/low-cal meal! Another variation is to add tortilla strips or baked tortilla chips in the soup with some low-fat cheese. Good!

Hope everyone is having a FABULOUS day!!

3.31.2009

Tuesdays at the Table

TuesdaysAtTheTable



Today I'm going to join in Tuesdays at the Table over at My Chihuahua Bites! Every week Andrea puts up great recipes and then has a Mr. Linky on her post where everyone can add a link to their own food related post. It's great fun!


The recipe I'm going to post today is kinda made up. My husband and I LOVE shrimp, so about once every couple of weeks I make Shrimp Pasta. It's YUM!


Here's the ingredients:


1 box Angel Hair Pasta or Linguine
1 pound medium size Shrimp (w/o tail)
1 bag fresh or frozen snap peas (you could substitute any veggie)
1 stick of butter (I've used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and it worked pretty good)
3 tbsp. Cream Cheese
3 tbsp. Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. minced garlic
Old Bay Seasoning
extra Parmesan Cheese


Directions:

Boil your pasta. While pasta is boiling, steam shrimp in microwave. I like to use the new steamer bags. It's really quick and easy to clean up. While pasta is boiling and shrimp is steaming, put your butter, cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic and seasoning in a skillet. Let all of these ingredients melt together. When the shrimp is finished steaming, put your veggies in the microwave to steam for a few minutes. This really speeds things up. When pasta, shrimp, and veggies are finished cooking. Drain the water and toss the shrimp and snap peas into your skillet coating them with your sauce. Serve over pasta immediately. Top with extra Parmesan. YUM!


(Sorry for the fuzzy pic. I took it with my phone.)
Be sure to go over to My Chihuahua Bites and check out the other food posts. Andrea has a recipe for Smores Brownies and they look DELISH!

Happy Tuesday!

2.25.2009

Happy HumpDay

So, it's hump day...I like saying that, makes me smile...not sure why? Hope everyone has been having a great week thus far! Mine has been pretty good...laid back. I like it that way. My two big bosses have been gone, which means the office is chill. No one has been yelling at me. It's nice. I don't really have an agenda for bloggin' today...I just felt like it.

(*beware this could get random*)

Last night I made a yummy hamburger soup...not really "stew"...more like soup. I just sorta winged it and tossed in things...this is kinda how it went...

1 pound of hamburger - browned w/ a little onion and some seasonings...just whatever floats your boat.
1 can of peas and carrots
1 can of diced potatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of corn
2 1/2 cups of water

Brown the meat. Drain off any grease. Add in veggies, tomato sauce, and water. Let it come to a boil. Turn down heat. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Voila!

Super yumm-O with cornbread or crackers.

Start to finish 45 minutes max! Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

One more thing I wanted to share is that I've been cleaning out EVERYTHING...closets, drawers, cabinets. I've got five bags of "stuff" to take to Golden Rule. It's pretty much ridiculous. From the looks of the bags, you would think that there is nothing left in our house...oh, but there is. This brings me to my giveaway. I know what you're thinking, "Jen, I don't want your junk." Don't worry. While cleaning, I decided to purge my "gift drawers". I'm just in the mood to start over. So, in a day or so, I'll have a giveaway post and in it will be all the things that are...or were in my gift drawer. Stay tuned!

2.11.2009

A little of this...a little of that...and a whole lotta randomness

I have so many random things running through my head. I want to blog today, but where do I start? Usually I can just sit right down and start blogging about whatever it is that's on my mind, but today it's as if I'm at a loss for...nah, there's no way I could be at a loss for...yeah, that would never happen. My dad likes to say that I have the "gift to gab". *Insert rolling of eyes and a "whatever"!* Maybe if I just get things rolling...


I'll start with the weekend. My aunt and uncle have been in the process of turning an old historical home into a bed and breakfast and a tea room. (More pictures to come...I'm actually going to start a blog for the bed and breakfast. I'll keep you posted.)

Over the weekend, I helped them with an open house. We even had a little craft fair indoors to help draw in people. Here's a few of the banners I made to sell.




I only sold 2. Not good, but it was still fun. I'm thinking about maybe opening an Etsy store and putting them on there to see if they sell. I have so much fun making them, so it would be fun to actually sell some. Plus, I spend so much time (and money) on Etsy anyway...might as well try to sell a few things while I'm there (although all my profits would probably be used toward new purchases ☺).


Also, I want to give Andrea over at My Chihuahua Bites a shout out for posting the awesome Cobbler recipe last week on Tuesdays At The Table! I made that the yummiest blueberry cobbler last night! Thanks, Andrea! (For the recipe click HERE)



I need to fulfill a tag from my friend Shilo over at My Place of Peace. She tagged me to tell you about my purse! Y'all know how I love purses, so I happily obliged.


1) Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house.


**This is the purse I'm carrying today...just snapped a pic of it w/ my phone. It's a chocolate brown Coach purse (It's the Ergo Hobo style purse from last year). I love it because Michael bought it for me for Christmas last year and I ♥ chocolate brown. It has just a girl's basic essentials inside...purse-size perfume (Light Blue by D&G), hand sanitizer wipes, Tylenol, lip gloss, iPhone ear buds, eyeglass case, my camera, and matching wallet.

2) I want to know how much it cost☺ And this is not to judge. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it.

**Since it was a gift I don't know for sure, but since I'm kinda a Coach fanatic I can take a guess...$298ish. Don't look at me like that! I take really good care of it and probably only get a new one once a year (or twice) Gosh.

3. Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your purse.
**If you're reading this and haven't been tagged for this particular tag...consider yourself TAGGED!

One last thing before I go, I need some feedback on what kind of photo editing software I should buy. Tell me what you have and why you love it!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!