Blog Award

Sorry, no recipe this post. Just a bit of housekeeping. Jessica at Harwood Harbor gave me this blog award and so now it's my turn to give it to others (Oh! And thanks Jessica for the award!). Here's how it works:



1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link. (You can get the award picture by right clicking the image and saving it to your computer. It's the only way I could figure out- so if anyone else knows how, please share!)

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered

3) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


My nominations for the award:

1) Anissa's Kitchen- It's my mom's blog, and I couldn't take full credit for this blog since she's the one that taught me to cook

2) My Kitchen Cafe- This isn't "newly discovered" for me, but Melanie has so many delicious looking recipes that I have a hard time not drooling over them!

3) Lynn's Kitchen Adventures- Lynn tries to focus on budget-friendly recipes that are tried and true mixed with new recipes. She also does some menu planning if you want ideas in that department.

4) The Thurstonian- Amy is an old family friend and I used to babysit her kids. I love reading through her blog at the randomness that happens in their life. It keeps me entertained :)

5) Blog Chef- Again, this blog isn't new to me, but it features a lot of what I LOVE to eat... Chinese food! This blog has had many recipes that have come to my rescue since I live in a town with slim pickings on Chinese restaurants!

6) Prepared LDS Family- This is a great site for emergency preparedness, whether you are just starting with 72-hour kits, working on your 3-month supply or beyond.

7) Easy Cheap Recipes- Another frugal food site. Some of you may have already been over to Jayne's site, but it's a great place to look when planning your menu or scrambling for dinner!

8) For the Love of Cooking- I've found a couple of recipes here that I've enjoyed, and there are so many more that look yummy!

9) Good Stuff Maynard- Another great recipe site to browse through- it's a collaboration from many aspiring cooks.

10) Eat at Home- Just what it says... recipes so you can save money and eat at home!

Hmmm... I can't think of any more blogs! I guess I'm with you on just choosing 10 Jessica! So to those of you who were nominated- Congratulations! And do your best to come up with 15 blogs. (If you don't we'll still forgive you!)

Cheesy Italian Chicken

This is another recipe I got from the "Girlfriends on the Go!: A busy mom's guide to make-ahead meals" by Suzie Roberts. It was so good and extra easy since it used the crock pot! I know we'll be making this again for sure! I only used 4 chicken breasts and next time I think I'll go ahead and use 6 for the full recipe because there seemed to be a little excess sauce- but it was still good! Again, this recipe is enough for a larger family, so if you don't want a ton of leftovers, it might be best to half the recipe- especially since you serve it with rice or pasta and can add a vegetable.

Cheesy Italian Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in pieces

2 cans cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs (I'm not sure why they had these in except for the flavor. You could probably substitute a packet of Italian dressing mix and have it turn out just as well)
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand- any kind should work well)

Mix soup, milk, bread crumbs, and cheese together. Add chicken pieces. Cook in slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours. Stir often so cheese doesn't stick to the bottom (I didn't do this, and I didn't have a problem). Serve over rice or noodles.

If you want to freeze this recipe, place the chicken pieces in a freezer bag. Mix all other ingredients together and pour over chicken in the bag. Don't forget to label your bag with the instructions on how to cook it and don't forget to thaw it before putting it into the slow cooker or it will take a lot longer!

Ravioli Casserole

I got an awesome freezer meal cookbook from my mom titled "Girlfriends on the Go: A busy mom's guide to make-ahead meals" by Suzie Roberts. And since I've been feeling crummy, I decided to try out some of the easy recipes to help lower our food budget (fast food isn't very friendly! ;) So far, they've been delicious. I'm so glad that I can put together a few meals in one day and be able to have a homemade dinner to feed my family, even if I don't feel up to cooking! This one is similar to lasagna, but for any of you lasagna lovers out there, you know lasagna can be really expensive if you don't find every ingredient on sale. This is a less expensive version, and my husband said he even likes it better than plain old lasagna. This recipe is also very easy to mix-up as you can use different types of ravioli (or make your own if you feel ambitious!), different sauces, and you can even add cooked ground beef, cooked ground Italian sausage, or even sneak some veggies in it. The full recipe makes quite a bit. I could easily half the recipe and still have enough for dinner plus some leftovers for one or two lunches for me and my husband. So if your cooking for a small family, either only make half the recipe or freeze the other half. It'll be worth it!

Ravioli Casserole

1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 package (25 oz.) frozen cheese ravioli, cooked and drained
2 cups small curd cottage cheese (that's about 16 oz.)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (this seemed like too much, so I used 2 cups and it was great!)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce in 9x13 pan. Layer with half of the ravioli, 1-1/4 cups sauce, 1 cup cottage cheese, and 2 cups mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 30 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

If you want to freeze it, place your casserole in a disposable aluminum pan (the $1 store is a good resource for purchasing them), cover it with foil, and label it with the instructions on baking it. Before you use your meal out of the freezer, be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator or else the cook time will need to be more than doubled :(

Omelette for Two

Before I give this amazing breakfast recipe, I want to apologize for not having posted very many recipes last month or for this month so far. I'm almost out of my first trimester of my pregnancy, so I should be better about actually cooking. So thanks for your patience! I wish I could say that I made this recently because it's delicious! My mom actually made something similar to it when I was visiting her this weekend, which is what reminded me of it. I'll probably make her version sometime and then share it with you! But until then, give this one a whirl. You won't be disappointed!

Omelette for Two

1/4 lb. bacon (or you could use leftover ham, or even browned sausage, or I've left it out too and it's still good)
1 Tbl. butter
1 c. medium yukon gold potatoes (~2; I used regular potatoes and they work fine or if you have hashbrowns in the freezer, they'd work, too)
1/2 c. chopped yellow onion
6 eggs
2 Tbl. milk or cream
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. (or more :) ) extra cheddar cheese

Dice, cook, and drain bacon. Cook butter, onions, and potatoes about 10 minutes, or until tender. Beat eggs, milk and pepper. Stir in cheese. Put potato mixture into egg mixture. Place in greased pie pan and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until puffed and set in the middle.

Baked Taquitos

I've tried to make fried taquitos before, but all I got was a mess and a half. So when I saw the idea for baked taquitos at For the Love of Cooking I knew I had to try it. Unfortunately, since I'm in the first trimester of my pregnancy, I could only stomach cooking chicken. I was really craving shredded beef taquitos, but the chicken was still good! If you want an exact recipe- sorry, I don't have one. But you can go to the link above and she has one for pork and beef taquitos.

Baked Taquitos
cooked chicken, shredded (I seasoned mine with a packet of quacamole seasoning- I didn't have any taco seasoning and was being lazy- a can of tomato sauce, and a little bit of lemon juice then baked the chicken at 375 F until done and then shredded it)
small can of diced green chiles
shredded cheese
tortillas (I used flour- so I guess these are technically floutas, huh?)

Preheat your oven to 425 F. Combine the green chiles with the cooked chicken (you don't have to use the whole can of chiles if you don't want to) and warm the tortillas in the microwave (wrap them in a paper towel and microwave for 1-2 minutes). Assemble the taquitos by placing some chicken and some cheese in a row towards the outer edge of the tortillas and then by rolling the tortilla up tightly. Place rolled taquitos seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 5-6 minutes, flip, and bake another 5-6 minutes or until the tortillas are crisp and lightly browned.

Granola

Granola and yogurt is one of my favorite snacks and breakfasts. So when my husband and I talked about eating breakfast more consistently I thought I'd try to make my own granola and it was GREAT! I made mine plain because that's how I like it, but it you could also add dried fruit, nuts, and seeds to make it more nutritious. This recipe came from an old ward cookbook and was submitted by Janice Edwards. Another plus to making this recipe is that the molasses made my kitchen smell like I was baking gingerbread cookies! It was heavenly!

Granola

4 cups rolled oats or rolled grains (I used quick oats)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oil (I used vegatable)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Bake 10 minutes on a greased cookie sheet at 325 F. Stir and bake 10 more minutes. Add raisins, dried fruit, chopped nuts, or flax seed to taste after the grains have finished baking.

Mexican Rice Casserole

I found this recipe at For the Love of Cooking and decided to try it because the ingredients were very economical and it looked yummy. This recipe is also very forgiving, as it allows you a lot of room to play with it. For example, I can't make anything too spicy or else my husband won't eat very much leaving me with lots of leftovers to eat all by myself. So I added half of the red pepper flakes, and instead of using spicy tomato sauce, I used mild salsa. If you wanted to make it even more economical, you could omit the ground beef. (Honestly, I couldn't really even tell it was in the recipe. If you do this, just season the beans with the seasoning instead.) This was really good, however, and I served it with cornbread and salad. It was also filling. I made a whole batch this time around, and my husband and I only ate 1/4 of it. Next time I'll probably do a half recipe to have some for dinner and then a little left over instead of most of a pan.

Mexican Rice Casserole

1 1/2 cups of white rice, prepared per instructions

1 tsp of olive oil

1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp paprika***

1 tsp chili powder***

1 tsp dried cumin***

1 tsp garlic powder***

1 tsp dried oregano***

1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes***

salt and pepper, to taste

1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed (I made my own)

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1 8 oz can of spicy tomato sauce (such as El Pato- or you could use 1 cup of salsa)

3-4 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (divided) (I didn't use this)

1-2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

3-4 tomatoes, sliced thickly (I didn't use these either. I'm not a huge fan of large tomato chunks)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare rice per instructions. While the rice is cooking heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the ground beef, making sure to break it up into crumbles. Cook the beef for 3-4 minutes then add the diced onion and all of the seasonings. Stir until well combined and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the beef is cooked through and the onion is tender. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly for an additional 60 seconds. Add the cooked rice, drained and rinsed black beans, tomato sauce and a bit of cilantro (reserving some for garnishing) to the beef and onion mixture. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, taste and re-season if needed.

Coat a large baking dish with cooking spray and pour the rice mixture into the dish, spreading it evenly. Place the tomato slices on top of the rice mixture then top with cheddar cheese.

Spray a piece of tin foil with cooking spray (so the cheese won't stick) and cover the baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes (at 350 F) then remove the tin foil. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing. Top with a dollop of sour cream and the remaining chopped cilantro. Enjoy.

***Or you can use 1 packet of taco seasoning instead of individual spices.