Tuna & Pasta Cheddar Melt

This was a good, fast, an hearty meal. The best part may be that there was very little dishes to clean up. If I made this again, I would mix the peas and carrots into the tuna/pasta dish instead of having it on the side. The girls all ate it, except for Anna. She thought it tasted bad (I don't think she actually tried it). Grade: B+ 1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Chicken Broth

1 soup can water

3 cups uncooked corkscrew-shaped pasta (rotini)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1 cup milk

1 can (about 6 ounces) tuna, drained and flaked

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)

2 tablespoons Italian-seasoned dry bread crumbs

2 teaspoons butter, melted

1. Heat the broth and water in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat to a boil.  Stir in the pasta.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Cook until the pasta is tender, stirring often.  Do not drain. 2. Stir the soup, milk and tuna in the skillet.  Top with the cheese. Stir the bread crumbs and butter in a small bowl.  Sprinkle over the tuna mixture.  Cook until the cheese is melted.

Lucyliked her tuna pasta.

Emily ate all of hers.

Like pulling teeth with Anna!

Sarah doing her best "Emily" face.

Beef and Chipotle Burrito

This slow cooker meal was great for the adults, not so much for the girls however. It was a little spicy for the girls under six needed a lot of sour cream to dip their burritos in order to eat it. Anna and Emily did their best to finish it. The adults enjoyed it greatly. Hindsight, I would have only put half of the chipotle peppers in. Jen did teach me how to properly fold a burritos so the insides, remain inside.

Grade:

Adults: A-

Kids: D

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds boneless beef round steak, cut ¾ inch thick

1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small)

1 14 ½ ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 to 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano, crushed

¼ tsp ground cumin

1 clove garlic, minced

6 9-10 inch tortillas, warmed

¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1.       Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 6 pieces. In a 3 ½ or 4-quart crockery cooker place meat, undrained tomatoes, onion, chipotle peppers, oregano, cumin, and garlic.

2.       Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Remove meat from cooker. Using 2 forks, pull meat apart into shreds. Place meat in a large bowl. Stir in cooking liquid to reach desired consistency. Divide meat among warm tortilla, spooning it just below the center. Top with cheese.

Anna ate all of the spicy burrito!

Emily gave it a good try.

You can tell by the look on Lucy's face, she's not liking it.

Sarah started out on "fire" by did not finish.

Chili Rice with Chicken

No pictures. Worst meal I have ever cooked! I don't know if the tomatoes were rancid or maybe the chicken, but it was horrible. I ate a few bites and then threw out the rest. I strongly do not recommend cooking this, or maybe it was just a bad batch.

Grade: F

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil

12 oz boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch long by ¼ inch wide strips

½ green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

½ red bell pepper, coarsely chopped (I used 1 green instead of ½ red)

½ cup minced onion

1 tsp minced jalapeno pepper (I omitted this)

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp minced fresh oregano (or ½ tsp dried oregano)

½ tsp ground cumin

3 cups cooked rice (long-grain white or brown)

1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice

½ tsp pepper

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 to 3 minutes or until it is no longer pink on the outside. Stir in the bell peppers, onion, jalapeño pepper, garlic, chili powder, dried oregano (if using), and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through.

Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the rice, tomatoes with juice, fresh oregano (if using), and pepper. Heat through, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken Fried Steak and frozen peas and carrots (like Forest and Jenny)

This was a good Wednesday night meal. The girls, even Anna, ate a minimum of two pieces of the steak. Lucy and Sarah kept asking for more and more meat. I over cooked it a little bit, as I should have reduced the time I left it on Medium-Low. This was the first time I have ever made gravy and it wasn't too bad.

Grade: B+

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless beef top round steak, cut ½ inch thick

¾ cup fine dry bread crumbs

1 ½ tsp snipped fresh basil or oregano

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 beaten egg

1 Tbs milk

2 Tbs cooking oil

1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings

2 Tbs all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups milk

1.       Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 4 serving-size pieces. Place each piece of meat between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Working from center to edges, pound meat lightly with the flat side of a meat mallet to ¼ inch  thickness. Remove plastic wrap.

2.       In a shallow dish or on waxed paper combine bread crumbs, basil, the ½ tsp salt, and the ¼ tsp pepper. In another shallow dish combine egg and the 1 Tbs milk. Dip meat pieces into egg mixture, then coat with the bread crumb mixture.

3.       In a 12-inch skillet cook meat, half at time, in hot oil over medium heat about 6 minutes or until brown, turning once. (Add more oil, if necessary.) Return all meat to skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for 45 to 60 minutes more or until meat is tender. Transfer meat to a serving platter, reserving drippings in skillet. Keep warm.

   For gravy, cook onion in reserved drippings until tender but not brown. (Add more oil, if necessary.) Stir in  flour. Gradually stir in the 1 1/3 cups milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. If desired, season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve gravy with meat.

Sarah eating her first of many pieces.

Anna actually eating steak!

Emily, mid-bite

Lucy chewing away. 

4.     

Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken Over Potatoes

This slow cooker meal was made on our “Slow Cooker Monday.”

I don't have any pictures for this meal because I was not "at" dinner during the time the girls were eating this. Actually, I am not sure if they ate this or not. Jen might have taken the path to least resistance and took the pizza route. I had it on Tuesday for lunch and it was moist and the potatoes had a pineapplely taste (yes, I am aware that pineapplely is not a word).

Grade: B-

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and sliced thin

4 whole chicken breasts, skinned and halved

1 cup orange juice

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 tsp dried basil

¼ tsp. nutmeg

2 Tbs cider vinegar

Dried parsley flakes

17-oz can pineapple chunks in water, drained

1.       Place sliced potatoes in slow cooker. Arrange chicken breasts over potatoes.

2.       Combine orange juice, brown sugar, basil, nutmeg, and vinegar. Pour over chicken.

3.       Sprinkle dried parsley flakes over chicken.

4.       Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours.

5.       Remove chicken breasts and potatoes from sauce and arrange on a warm platter.

6.       Add pineapple chunks to sauce remaining in slow cooker. Cook on high until they are at serving temperature.

7.       Pour sauce over chicken and potatoes. 

Homemade cheese sticks and Creamy Corn and Garlic Risotto

Tonight’s dinner is a mixture of a cheese stick and a corn risotto. Jen and the girls were out of town, and I had some time to plan the meals for the week, so I will be posting all four meals that are prepared during the week. The Sunday night meal is vegetarian, the Monday/Tuesday is a slow cooker meal, Wednesday is steak, and Thursday/Friday is chicken with rice.

Tonight's meal was a huge success! The cheesesticks came out great, just like the picture in the cookbook (which never happens!). The risotto was creamy and cheesey and tasted amazing. I would make both items again.

Grade: A

String Cheese Sticks with Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
1 package of plain string cheese
1 Tbs butter (melted)
¼ tsp garlic powder
1 can pizza sauce
1.       Heat oven to 450. Stir Bisquick and milk until soft dough forms; beat 30 seconds with spoon. Place dough on surface sprinkled with Bisquick; gently roll in Bisquick to coat. Shape into a ball; knead 10 times.
2.       Roll dough ¼ inch thick. Cut into eight 6x2-inch rectangles. Roll each rectangle around 1 piece of cheese. Pinch edge into each roll to seal; seal ends. Roll on surface to completely enclose cheese sticks. Place seam sides down on ungreased cookie sheet.
3.       Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Mix butter and garlic powder; brush over warm cheese sticks before removing from cookie sheet. Serve warm with pizza sauce for dipping (or ranch like my girls).

Creamy Corn and Garlic Risotto

Ingredients:
3 ¾ cups vegetable or chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup uncooked Arborio or white rice
3 cups frozen whole kernel corn
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1.       Heat 1/3 cup of the broth to boiling in 10-inch skillet. Cook garlic in broth 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in rice and frozen corn. Cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
2.       Stir in remaining broth. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium. Cook uncovered 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tener and creamy; remove from heat.
3.       Stir in cheese.

 Lucy trying to see how far she could stretch her cheese.

 Emily with another, "Emily" face.

 Anna loved the cheesestick more than her risotto.

Sarah with a mouth full of cheese!



Bunny Puffs

This recipe is from the Pillsbury Crescents small recipe book that you can buy in the check out line in the super market. Jen bought this a while ago because I looked at the coupons at the back of the book and the expire in 2008, so it is pretty old. These bunnies were not in the dessert category of the book, but I think they are a great dessert. There is one piece of candy and the rest, besides the tiny marshmallow and the M&M for the eyes.

Grade: B+

Bunny Puffs
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
8 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cup candies, unwrapped
8 white miniature marshmallows, cut in half
4 pink miniature marshmallows, cut in half
16 blue miniature candy-coated semi-sweet chocolate baking bits (I used M&ms)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line large cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper; spray paper with cooking spray.
2. Unroll dough and separate into 8 triangles. Place 1 peanut butter cup in center of 1 triangle. Gently stretch corners closest to and farthest from cup together at top of cup, pinching edges together to seal around cup. Pull up third corner; firmly pinch edges to seal. Place on cookie sheet; twist 2 longest tips of dough o make ears. If desired, bend down longer ear. Repeat with remaining dough triangles and peanut butter cups, shaping and trimming dough as needed for desired shape.
3. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until puffs begin to brown. Place 2 white miniature marshmallow halves and 1 pink marshmallow half on center of each for bunny eyes and nose. Bake 1 to 2 minutes longer or until puffs are golden brown and marshmallows are slightly puffed.
4. For eyes, immediately place 2 blue baking bits on white miniature marshmallows for pupil; remove puffs to cooling rack.

Anna enjoying the peanut butter cup.

Emily thinks it is so funny to eat the bunny.

Sarah attempting to show you her bunny.

Lucy loving the ears!