Week 8 Update II

This is a little late but I haven't had time to post. Tuesday night I was all amped up to try another new recipe. The potatoes weren't really a recipe so I wasn't sure if it would technically count. So I picked this pasta recipe that sounded pretty good. Basically a lower fat version than full on Alfredo sauce. So it was called Spinach Pasta with Cheese. First off anything with cheese in the title gets my attention. And K loves pasta so I thought it was a good compromise.

It smelled good cooking so I got even more excited. I decided to make dessert too to surprise him. I hardly ever start cooking before K gets home. Usually I'll play with C, go through the mail, check all my usual websites while trying to keep C from destroying random papers on the shredder, call friends, etc. And then when he gets home I'll lay around for ten minutes asking "I don't know what do you want for dinner" secretly hoping he'll finally cave and say we have enough money to go out (again).

In the end, the pasta recipe was no good. The sauce never really became watery. Basically it was a ball of spinach coated ricotta cheese that I tried to mix in with the pasta. I thought it was gross from the first day. K liked it but he ate it again on Wednesday and said it was gross. Oh well - a mad face goes in the recipe book.

You never know if you don't try.

Week 8 update

So how is the cooking coming? So far I made one new thing but I didn't have a recipe - so does that count?

I sliced (ok K did) potatoes up and put them in a frying pan with oil, a little butter, salt, pepper, seasoning salt, basil and garlic powder and cooked them for dinner last night. Super yummy.

Last week I made a taco salad - I had a recipe but I tweaked it. Here you go (my version):

1 lb ground beef
1 cucumber
approx 1 head of lettuce
2 Roma tomatoes
onion (to taste)
garlic (to taste)
cumin
salt
pepper
onion powder
3/4 cup French dressing
1 cup salsa
whole grain tortilla chips (broken up)
Cheddar Cheese
can of black beans (drained)

Ok this is super easy. Cook the beef. Towards the end add onion, garlic, spices and beans. Heat through. Meanwhile, wash all the veggies and put in a bowl. Cool the meat mixture a bit and then put on top of veggies - combine. Top with cheese and chips.

In another bowl combine salsa and French dressing to make your salad dress.

First off I never would have thought to combine salsa and French dressing but it was by far one of the best dressings I've ever had. Highly recommend.

I'm debating tonight making a new pasta recipe - I'll let you know how it goes.

Recipe - Chicken Pot Pie

Ok so I didn't invent this... basically because I'm not a real chef but I do tweak recipes I find. That's part of the fun. The key to my recipes is they have to be easy and they have to be semi-healthy. I usually try to sub in low-fat/no-fat alternatives.

So Chicken Pot Pie....

Ingredients
Pie Crust (make your own if you really want to but I like Pillsbury)
1 lb Chicken (Turkey breast will also work) (cubed)
1 TBSP butter
1 onion or a few cloves of garlic (chopped or diced - I'm not a huge onion person so I never use a whole onion)
salt
pepper
1 small bag mixed veggies (you can go with fresh just cook them first)
1 can cream of chicken soup or cream of potato soup (I buy low-fat/low-sodium, etc).

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt better in pan. Toss in chicken and onion/garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until meat is done or almost done. Stir in soup and half a can of water. Heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in mixed veggies. The original recipe basically said to stir in for a few seconds until everything is mixed. I cook a few minutes.

Heat bottom of pie crust for about 6 minutes in oven. Take out and pour pie contents into crust. Top with top of pie crust. Slit the top. Bake 15 minutes. Should be golden brown and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Easy Recipe - Calzones

I should first say I'm not sure this is really a calzone because I think calzones have pizza sauce in them but whatever.... this is what I'm calling it.

Ingredients
Frozen Loaf of Bread (it's over with the frozen bread rolls) - thaw - the package says 8 hours if you're like me and forget throw it in the microwave on defrost but watch it so it doesn't start to bake
Your Favorite Cheese (I use mozzarella or pizza cheese)
Broccoli
Pepperoni (or ham, sausage, whatever you have)
Olive Oil

Spray cookie sheet or grease with oil. Roll out thawed dough. Lightly drizzle with oil then cover one half with your favorite toppings (I listed mine above). Fold the half without topping over the toppings and pinch two halves together. Bake at 450 for about 20 minutes (adjust accordingly to your oven).

Enjoy!

Recipe - Alfredo Ham

So if you had said five years ago I would like to cook I would have laughed at you. But since I got a house and I don't have anyone to cook for me anymore nor the money to go out all the time I have found that it's not cooking I detest it's the cleaning up afterwards. I've actually found cooking to be (gasp) fun. I try to make one new recipe a week and I've even gotten brave enough to tweak my current favorites (usually when I'm missing ingredients).

So I've decided to post my favorite recipes or tweaks when I come across them. I'll cite the ones that I borrow from other places and let you know which are mine. Some will be easy... ok most. I work people I don't have time to cook meals that take half a day to prepare!

So tonight's recipe is for ... well I'm calling it Alfredo Ham Bake. I originally used a Pillsbury recipe and tweaked it so this is a mix of mine and theirs.

Ingredients
2 ham steaks (the ones that come pre-cooked) - cubbed
1 small jar Alfredo Sauce
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (about half of a small jar) - chopped
4 oz Havarti Cheese (I buy sliced and it comes 8 oz) - cut the cheese in cubes or tear it up in small pieces - ends up being about 5 to 6 slices
1 small bag of mixed veggies or whatever kind of vegetable you have in the freezer (I've tried peas and mixed veggies)
3 cups uncooked pasta (I use bow-ties but again anything small like macaroni noodles would work)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook the pasta according to directions and drain. In a 3 qt saucepan - heat the sauce. Add pasta, ham, tomatoes, cheese and veggies. Heat.

Spray casserole dish with Pam (or grease with butter). Pour pasta mixture into dish. Cover with foil. Bake for 30-45 minutes.

Enjoy!