Happy Easter

I went out of town for Easter and was unable to post, so this is a little late. Because me and the Sweetpea were in Missouri over the weekend to celebrate my Grandfather's 90th birthday, I prepared Easter dinner and took the baby's Easter pictures the weekend before. I made a roasted chicken stuffed with fresh herbs from the brand new container garden Brian is growing on our back patio. The only other preparations I did to the chicken was to rub the outside with olive oil and cover in salt and pepper. The result was a very vibrant flavor from the herbs and extremely juicy chicken. It could have used more salt, but I like to cook it with as little as possible and add it after if it needs it. No need to over salt when you don't have to and I keep in mind that you can always add more. I also made a simple cheese, rice and broccoli casserole and served peas and garlic bread. We sat at the dining room table while the baby played with some peas and of course wine was served as well.

The herbs are stuffed whole under the skin of the breast. I think it looks a little like a bikini top!

I removed the herbs before eating. The chicken is a beautiful brown and the skin was crispy.

I followed the cooking time table on helpwithcooking.com. Prepare the chicken by cleaning the outside, patting it dry and removing the giblets. Stuff the skin over the breast with whole sage, basil and oregano. Rub the outside with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in the roasting pan breast up. Roast for 15 minutes on 450 degrees to obtain a nice crispy skin. Then cook the chicken the rest of the time at 375 degrees for 20 minutes per pound of chicken plus an extra 20 minutes. This chicken was about 5 pounds so it cooked for 2 hours at 375 degrees. Don't forget to baste your chicken about every 20 minutes to keep it juicy and crispy.

Chicken, peas, rice casserole and wine.

The broccoli rice casserole is very easy.

1 bag frozen broccoli, thawed

8 oz velveeta cheese, cubed

1 can cream of chicken soup

3-5 cups rice, cooked

Combine all in a casserole dish and sprinkle paprika over the top. Cook for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. (Toss it in the oven during the last 30 minutes of cooking the chicken.)

Easter Dinner table set and ready to go.

Everleigh's Easter basket. The candy was for Brian and I. She got the books and hair accessories.

The following are pictures from our Easter photo shoot in the backyard.

The dress was mine when I was a baby::

Happy Easter everyone!

No, it's not a Hamburger.

One evening last week when picking up my daughter, my mom and I were discussing what we were making for dinner, a very typical conversation for us. I said I was going to make patty melts. She asked how I make them. I said you make hamburger patties and put it on toast. She said, "So it's a hamburger." Um, no. It's a patty melt!

Okay, so yes, you make a hamburger patty. But then (cue the fanfare), you put it on toast. Slather on lots of mayonnaise, caramalized onions, and melted cheddar (that's the melt part) and you have my almost famous patty melts!

For some reason in the early days of our marriage I never had hamburger buns in the house. I think probably because we ate a lot of hamburgers. So, in an effort to add even more hamburgers to our diets and a solution for the no-buns-in-the-house problem, I started making patty melts.

I won't post my recipe for hamburger patties because I usually just throw stuff into the ground beef and shape patties. I always put in an egg, some bread crumbs, salt and pepper and a little worcestershire. Sometimes I add mustard, salsa, garlic, powdered onion soup mix, milk or seasoned salt. Adding milk makes the texture much smoother, less coarse, which I prefer for patty melts. I don't add milk when making regular burgers. Another key to a very smooth texture is to hand mix the meat very well. The rest of the ingredients are just for flavor and can be added/omitted as you like.

For the onions, I cooked on medium in olive oil. About halfway through the cooking I added salt, pepper, and a light sprinkling of white sugar. They cooked for about 30 minutes on med/low. Make sure that you stir just often enough to avoid burning.

These onions are so yummy on the sandwiches, or eaten with a fork!

I pan fried the patties in a sprinkling of worcestershire to get a nice char on the outside.

Sandwich construction: LOTS of Mayo on both sides of warm toast. Stack cheddar, patties, onions.

If I wasnt't so hungry at the time of making these, I would have put the toast with the mayo and cheese under the

broiler to get it nice and melty. But, I couldn't wait that long.

Oh, and I would have put cheese on both sides, but this was the last of my cheddar.

Classic Patty Melt

I'd like to add that upon further explaining how I make them to my mom she turned her nose up at the mention of onions. If you don't eat onions, perhaps don't bother with the patty melt. If you also don't eat mayo, then definately don't bother. Then yes, you really would just have a hamburger on toast.

Two Meals in One

I love being able to create two meals but only doing a majority of the cooking once. Hence the Mexican Pizzas seen previously. You make one batch of taco meat and, Voila!, two meals! This week I made one batch of chicken and created two yummy dinners, using most of the same ingredients. It is extremely time efficient and money efficient.

I marinated three chicken breasts overnight in balsamic vinaigrette dressing with thick slices of onion and freshly minced garlic. On Monday night I diced up the onion and cubed up the chicken and threw it all in a pot to cook. I used this chicken mixture both Monday night for homemade spinach alfredo pizza and Tuesday night for alfredo macaroni bake.

Spinach Alfredo Pizza:

1 Box Pizza Crust Mix (I like Jiffy)
1 Jar Alfredo Sauce (I like Classico)
1/3 Chicken mixture described above
Mushrooms
Fresh Spinach
1-2 Cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cook mushrooms and spinach with a little of the balsamic vinaigrette (or dressing or your choice, or oil and vinegar) until the spinach is just wilted. Prepare the pizza crust as directed on package. Spread about 1/4 of the jar of sauce on top of the pizza crust. Cover that with chicken mixture, spinach and mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. Cook in oven according to the package directions for the crust.

 Spinach and mushrooms on the left. Chicken mixture cooking up on the right.

Covered in alfredo sauce and cooked chicken.

Topped with a layer of spinach and mushrooms.

Covered in mozzarella and cooked to a golden brown. I served it with Caesar Salad.

Alfredo Macaroni Bake

10 oz elbow macaroni (I used about 2/3 of a 1lb box)
The leftover chicken and spinach and mushrooms from last night's dinner.
The rest of the jar of alfredo sauce.
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded (or similar)
Parmesan cheese and Panko bread crumbs for topping.

Cook your pasta and mix together with chicken, vegetables, shredded cheese and sauce. Put in large casserole dish and cover the top with more shredded cheese, parmesan cheese and Panko bread crumbs. Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

 I served this with hot dog bun garlic bread.

Easy Lunch

One of the most effective things that I do to save my family money is bring my lunch to work with me. Recently, I discovered Easy Lunchboxes and really love the concept of "American-style bento." It appeals to me for both my own lunches and the future lunches I will pack my daughter, so it is a habit I am trying early on to start. There are tons of fun blogs out there to get ideas and inspiration from. Currently my lunches for Brian and I are incredibly simple. But I always try to keep in mind the point, which is to provide nutritious lunches that are fun to eat. Since using the lunchboxes I have generally packed healthier lunches with more fresh fruits and vegetables than what I had done in the past. I don't use them everyday, as I often bring leftovers from dinners at home. When Sweet E gets old enough to need a packed lunch I hope I am able to make them cute, creative and fun for her! Here are some pictures of the lunches I have recently packed in my newly acquired Easy Lunchboxes. I almost always have yogurt on the side also.

Grilled chicken wrap with homemade hummus and spinach, orange bell pepper strips,

pickle, fresh cantaloupe and grapes.

 Turkey sandwich, red pepper strips, apple slices, pineapple rings.

Turkey sandwich, baby carrots, roasted chickpeas, applesauce with cinnamon.

Tuna salad, baby carrots and cucumber slices on a bed of lettuce, fritos, and frozen berries.

Rice with black beans and corn, carrot medallions, pickle, on a bed of lettuce.

Two mini spinach quiches, some chunks of cheddar.

Mexican Pizzas!

This dinner idea is so simple, quick and easy that I feel almost silly posting it. But simple, quick and easy is the point so here goes! This recipe came about from a couple of different lines of thought. First, I needed something to use up leftover taco meat. Brian is not a big fan of leftovers so offering tacos two days in a row, or even for lunch the next day doesn't really appeal to him. But there is always enough leftover meat for a whole other meal, so I created Mexican Pizzas. Also, they are Brian's favorite menu item at Taco Bell, but lately he's on an anti-Taco Bell kick (who can blame him). So I tried to duplicate them and that is how these pizzas came about. Now, Mexican Pizza night ALWAYS follows taco night. And occasionally I will cook up the meat just for the pizzas. That is what I did last night and since I used giant tortillas (because that is what I had) I used up most of the meat. So no tacos this week, but I'll use the leftovers for my own lunch! If you are using leftover meat, this recipe takes 15 minutes or less to prepare, but is full of nutrition and yumminess so it's great for a weeknight. If you also have leftover taco shells laying around keep a lookout for what to do with them in a future post!

So, I made the taco meat last night and I used a homemade taco seasoning mix. Many of the store bought seasoning mixes come with extra additives and (gasp!) MSG so I try to avoid them. However, I have had a hard time duplicating the flavor. But I think what I mixed up last night comes pretty close.

Taco Seasoning:

2 TB Chili Powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp each:

salt

pepper

cumin

onion powder

garlic powder

sugar

I added worcestershire (about 1 TB), Louisiana hot sauce (about 1/2 TB) and chunky salsa (about 1/4 cup) to my 1 pound of ground beef as it was browning. Then I added most of the seasoning (all but about 1TB). Next I covered the meat with 1/2 cup water and let it simmer until cooked all the way through:

Next I filled my tortillas! First, put a layer of refried beans on the bottom tortilla. I didn't have refried so I just fork mashed some whole beans. Next, layer the taco meat. On top of that, add a bit of cheese (so it will stick to the top tortilla) and cover with top tortilla. Push down so it is nice and flat and everything sticks together. Put in 450 degree oven for 3-5 minutes. This step is so that the tortillas get nice and crisp. You'll need to watch carefully though so that you don't burn the edges.

Beans and Meat

Next, remove the pizzas and cover tops with salsa and/or hot sauce, and lots of cheese. Put into 350 degree oven for 5 more minutes. Once the cheese is melted, remove and add lettuce and tomatoes. I also add black olives if I have them. Serve with salsa, sour cream, cilantro, and/or jalepenos.

They turn out bright, colorful, satisfying and delicious!