chicken and garlic

I make this chicken and garlic spaghetti dish from time to time, but today I wanted it, but not the spaghetti, so I'm using rotini noodles! Recipe is: 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 2 cloves of garlic minced, 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, 2 Tablespoons of butter, 2 teaspoons of dried basil leaves,(if you have it add homemade pesto, about 2 teaspoons) and pasta of your choice. Olive oil in a skillet,

add garlic and chicken, in the mean time cook the pasta. When chicken is no longer pink add butter, basil and the pasta, toss and cook til mixed well! YUM!!!!Blessings!

salad

I saw a new salad on a TV show and thought I could make it mine! So, with a few twists it is mine(I think). The cast of characters are: a red onion -1/2 diced, 1 whole English cucumber sliced in half and then diced, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning! Yum is all I can say! I think I will hide it from "the Hub" and take it to work tomorrow! Blessings!

new week

I can't believe it's a new week and the end of March. I haven't posted anything for almost a week as I have made nothing for a few days! I have cooked, but the same things like a few weeks ago!

With that being said, I will get back with it tomorrow and post a yummy recipe( it's in the works)!! Blessings!

snow

We got hit with a huge snow storm over the last 24 hours! We have on the ground around 15 inches give or take a few! So, I didn't go to work, but atyed home till noon, then I went out with "the Hub" to do some snow plowing! We left at noon and got home at 6:30! What a day!! I had plans, but when I can go along and help "the Hub" out, I'm game! We didn't do too much talking, but enjoyed the scenery! I took no pics of the snow as it's snow, people!!!! We have had enough for the year!!! Amen, sister!!!Blessings!

Mexican Lasagna

Well, I finally made the mexican lasagna that I talked about early last week! It looks pretty, but it has some major problems! The layers kinds melted together! The tortilla shells kinda disappeared among the corn and black beans, so the only thing I can figure out is that I had a lid on the baking dish so the shells got steamed/mushy and cooked into the corn/beans/cheese mixture! What do you think?? Recipe: 2 cans of corn, drained, 2 cans of black beans, drained, 10 flour tortilla shells, 1 -8oz package of shredded cheese, 1can of Rotel and 1 can of tomatoes, diced. Mix the tomatoes and Rotel together, mix corn, cheese and beans together,, preheat oven to 350, in glass pan put about 1/2 cup of tomatoes, then put a few tortillas on the top of tomatoes, add about 1/2 of corn, cheese and beans mixture, then another layer of tortillas, then the rest of corn, cheese, beans mixture, then another layer of tortillas, top with 1 cup of grated cheese, bake for 40 minutes. Blessings!

new pan

So, I had Wednesday off and went to Siren to see my daughter, and by the way, she is my favorite daughter(it's a joke)!!! So, I had a gift card from Erika and Trevor from my birthday to the Acorn Pantry, money from my sister and a 30% email notice, so I bought a Le Creuset 5.5 stock pan. It's yummy!!! Beautiful kiwi color that is discontinued now, but I love it! So, here's the pans debut! LOL!!!! Hey, it's Friday and we need to laugh! Blessings!

Irish Soda bread

I made Irish soda bread this morning as my tribute to all things Irish! I'm a heinz 57 kinda gal

maybe some Irish somewhere among the nationalities! Recipe: n a large mixing bowl, sift 3cups of flour, 2/3cups of sugar, 3t. of baking powder, 1t.of baking soda. To this mixture add: 1c of raisins(I soak mine in hot water about 1/4c. for about 10 minutes),2 beaten eggs, 1t. of caraway seeds, 1 1/2c. of buttermilk, 2T. of melted butter. Don't over mix this, just mix till wet! Pour into greased loaf pan,oven temp is 350, bake for 1 hour or until golden. Remove from pan immediately. It's so good and I have been making this for 34 yrs. Also, this is our grandson's birthday, Happy birthday Alex! Blessings!

fun day

So today on my short vacation I went to Siren to see my daughter and have coffee with her! We had so much fun for an hour!! My daughter and son-in-love gave me a gift card to The Acorn Pantry for my birthday.

Of course, The Acorn Pantry just happen to have a wonderful sale going on, so time to shop! The Acorn Pantry is a great kitchen store and I have gone to some of the cooking classes they offered last fall. So here are some pictures of the items they have for all of us foodies to buy for a our cooking pleasure! Thanks to Holly for allowing me to take the photos to share with you! Blessings!

a short vacation!

I'm taking tomorrow off and have Thursday off from the grocery store. I'm so excited to not be there(sorry friends at the store)! I just need a few days off, spring fever and all has hit me! So, I was watching Nigella Kitchen on Food network on Sunday and she made a Mexican lasagna! I got the recipe and will make that tomorrow for supper! Blessings!

St. Patrick's Day

I made a watergate salad at the store for yesteday's demo. I didn't know this salad had an official name! Recipe: 1 package of instant pistachio pudding, 20oz can of crushed pineapple with juice, 1 cup of mini marshmallows, 1 1/2 cup of cool whip, 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. Mix together and refrig for 1hr. It was tasty and mighty fine! I wonder why it is called watergate salad? Anyone know??? Blessings!

Baked Beans

I saw this recipe on marthastewart.com and thought it would be fun to make for Sunday supper. I bought the cranberry beans and soaked them over night, then cooked them in the morning, I put them in the crockpot with all the other ingredients. They cooked all day, but I must of put too much water in the crockpot as it came out soup, so I cooked up some venison hamburger meat to add some more body to the "soup" and it was very good! So, we are eating leftovers tonight! Recipe: 1 lb. of cranberry beans, 1/4c. of molasses, 1/4c. of maple syrup, 1/4c of grainy mustard, 1/2c of ketchup(the recipe called for tomatoes, but I didn't have any handy), 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 onions peeled and quartered. Soak and cook the bean, in a separate bowl add the molasses,olive oil,ketchup, mustard and syrup. Add the onions, with the beans and liquid. Bake for 2 hours or 6 hours in the crockpot on low. YUM!!!Blessings!

bananas

How long can you freeze bananas? Well, I found bananas in my freezer above the refrig, that had been there at least 1 yr if not longer! Black as all get out on the outside, but not bad in the inside, so I made banana bread! Blessings!

cookie bars

I love making and eating magic cookie bars! My friend, Gloria, had back surgery a week ago and is home now recuperating! So, tomorrow is my turn to take a meal. My meal is pork roast, potatoes, carrots in the crockpot plus the cookie bars for dessert! I made Gordon a pan of bars, too! YUM!!! Blessings! Recipe: 1 package of graham crackers pulse and ground in the food processor, 4 Tablespoons of melted

butter, 1 tablespoon of sugar, this makes the crust, then the crust add 1 cup of chopped walnuts, 1 cup of butterscotch morsels, 1 cup of choc chips, 1 cup of shredded coconut and 1 can of condense milk, poured over the bars, bake this at 350 for 25 minutes, let it cool and then enjoy!

cake review

It was okay! I might try it again, but change a few things, like add coco

nut extract and rum extract! I didn't think it tasted at all like pina colada, so disappointing! Blessings!

cake

We have some friends coming for supper tonight and I saw this recipe for "Pina Colada" cake on smittenkitchen.com website! So, since I work at a grocery store, I bought the odd ingredients like cream of coconut yesterday and made the cake last night. We didn't taste it yet, but it looks pretty nice and smelled so good baking! Blessings!