New Baby, Social Suppers

Well, yes I have been MIA for the last 10 months or so...

Kevin and I have been blessed with an adorable daughter, Maci Jacquelyn, who was born 11/28/10 at 3:49pm, weighed 5lbs, 9oz, and was 18 inches long. She is perfect in every way.

Making a long story short, I had a rough pregnancy, and was very sick. I didn't make ONE meal the whole time. Hard to believe, but true. Just the sight of the kitchen made me gag.

Now I am back in action-well soon to be, and I will post again more frequently, as long as my sweet little daughter gives me the time to do so!

Here is my little angel:


Right before I had Maci, well a few weeks, we decided to make some freezer meals-and we took the easy way out and visit Social Suppers in Lenexa, KS. We made 6 different meals, and bought some sides. It has SAVED us through the first evenings without help! I highly recommend them. You can visit their website here http://www.socialsuppers.com/. Its worth it, I promise!

Hope to be posting soon!

Chili Mac

I saw a Chili Mac recipe on Serendipity Bistro and wanted to make something quick and easy tonight, so I did just that. It was tasty and super fast. Now enjoying the thunderstorms and the cool breeze:)

Ingredients

1 1/4 c uncooked elbow macaroni

1 # ground chuck
A bunch of minced onion
Seasoned Salt

1 can turkey chili with beans

1 can corn, drained
1 small can tomato sauce

1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Cook macaroni according to package directions. In a large skillet cook ground chuck, season salt, and minced onion until no longer pink. Drain. Stir in chili, corn, and tomato sauce. Drain macaroni. Add macaroni to skillet & heat through. Turn off heat. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover until cheese is melted.

One pot meal:)

Chicken Fried Chicken

Chicken Fried Chicken is DELISH. I really like this recipe-even though it still stinks up the house with a nice greasy smell...lucky for me I am able to open the windows:) You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients
(I never follow this directly, just through it all in...)
30 saltine crackers
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dry potato flakes-I used more
1 teaspoon seasoned salt, I also mix in onion powder, and garlic powder...
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil-I use some EVOO too
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves-I used tenders! Cook quicker.

Directions
Place crackers in a large resealable plastic bag; seal bag and crush crackers until they are coarse crumbs. Add flour, potato flakes, seasoned salt, and pepper to bag and mix well.

Beat egg in a shallow dish or bowl; heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

One by one, dredge chicken pieces in egg beat, then place in bag with crumb mixture, seal bag and shake to coat.

Reduce heat to medium and cook coated chicken in skillet for 15 to 20 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown and juices run clear.

Yummy!

Sweet Potato Fries

Mmmmm these turned out as a delicious side dish! Yummy.

Ingredients

2-4 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and patted dry

olive oil

salt

Directions

Heat oven to 400. Peel sweet potatoes with potato peeler (or you can leave the skin on for extra nutrients!)

Slice sweet potatoes into thin strips - and try to slice them evenly, so they cook evenly. I found the easiest way to do this was chop the rounded ends off, then cut the potato in half again and again until I was left with little strips. Remember, the thinner they are, the quicker they look.

Place potato strips on large baking sheet so no fries are overlapping. Drizzle with olive oil and salt; shake the pan to coat evenly (another option here is to spray with Pam, or even better, use an olive oil spray can to evenly spray olive oil onto the fries.)

Bake for 20 minutes, and flip the fries. Bake another 20 minutes. Test for tenderness somewhere along there - if you like them, you can remove them early. If you want crunchy, let them go longer.

Yummy!

Prosciutto, Spinach, and Pasta Casserole

I had wanted to use Prosciutto in something sooner than later, so when I came across this casserole, I thought it might be good! It was. I enjoy spinach in things like this too. You can find the recipe here. I made some changes which you can see below. No time for blogging-have to go enjoy this perfect weather! LOVE IT.

Ingredients
2-1/2 cups dried bow ties
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups half and half
1-1/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 a bag of fresh baby spinach or so...
4 ounces prosciutto, cut into thin bite-size strips
1 can of Italian style diced tomatoes

Directions
Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain; rinse pasta with cold water. Drain again.

In a large saucepan cook onion and garlic, covered, in hot butter about 5 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and anise seeds. Add the milk and chicken broth all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Stir in the cooked pasta, spinach, and prosciutto. Spoon the mixture into a 2-quart casserole.Top with the drained diced tomatoes and top with some more Parmesan cheese.

Bake, UN-covered, in a 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Let stand about 5 minutes. I then broiled for a few minutes to melt the top all wonderful:)

Finished product!


Dinner...

Asparagus Roll-Ups

My brother and his girlfriend Katie made these this weekend, and then Brett made some for Kevin and me tonight:) I never eat asparagus, so I think it was his way of getting me to eat it. He cut the recipe down tonight-but the original Asparagus Roll-Up recipe is below. I even loved them! Yummy. Plus, I got in a new veggie:)

Ingredients
16 fresh asparagus spears
16 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Place asparagus in a skillet with a small amount of water; cook until crisp and tender, about 6-8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Flatten bread with a rolling pin. Combine the cream cheese, bacon and chives; spread 1 tablespoonful on each slice of bread. Top with an asparagus spear. Roll up tightly; place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Brush with butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cut roll-ups in half. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Right out of the oven!


My first 2....

Fierro Chicken

It turned out really good, except I accidentally mixed up the Cayenne and Chili Powder, and it got super spicy! Good thing we like spicy food:) I served it with brown rice, black beans, and my brother made us Asparagus Roll-Ups...see the other post on that one! I added extra of all the things for the sauce, and it made plenty-I just threw in a hole block of cream cheese and the whole can of enchilada sauce, etc...

Ingredients
5 oz cream cheese, softened
1.5 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 4-oz can chopped green chilies
1 TBS chili powder (I used more + added cayenne)
3/4 C enchilada sauce
3/4 C fat free half and half
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt, pepper, cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a small casserole dish with cooking spray. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

Mix all ingredients well, except the chicken.

Place chicken in the casserole pan, and cover with sauce. Bake in preheated oven until juices run clear, about 40 minutes.

Our spicy little meal:)

Bran Muffins

I have spent the weekend cleaning and organizing all sorts of things. Today I made some bran muffins-my mom always used to make them, and she is the one to thank for this recipe. Easy, and pretty healthy:) I only made a dozen today, but I will also post the five-dozen recipe in case you need to bake them for an army!

1 dozen (small recipe)
Ingredients
2 cups All Bran Cereal
3/4 cup sugar
1 and 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk

5 dozen (large recipe)
Ingredients
1-15oz box All Bran Cereal
3 cups sugar
5 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk

Directions
Mix together all dry ingredients. Mix liquids together. Pour liquid all at once to dry and mix until just moist. Do not over-mix. Fill muffin holders 2/3 full and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Yummy!


Breakfast for the week:)

Tuscan Cheese Potato Bake

Tonight I made some Smoked Pork Chops, or ham steaks whatever you want to call them-Kevin is obsessed and he ate 2 and made me save him one for breakfast-silly boy...then I made a Tuscan Cheese Potato Bake, and some green bean casserole. Yummy. It turned out really well. I thought it might be overly cheesy...but it wasn't, it was delicious. I did cut the recipe in half, we are trying not to waste as much:) Below is the full recipe.

Ingredients
2 lb. red potatoes
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tsp. snipped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/4 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
4 oz. fontina cheese, shredded (1 cup)
4 oz. Parmesan cheese, finely shredded (1 cup)
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
1/4 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2-quart square baking dish; set aside. Scrub potatoes; cut in 1-inch pieces. In large saucepan cook potatoes in lightly salted boiling water 12 to 15 minutes or until tender; drain.

In a 12-inch skillet cook and stir garlic and thyme in butter over medium heat for 1 minute; add potatoes. Coarsely mash potatoes. Stir in buttermilk, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Fold in fontina cheese, half of the Parmesan, and the blue cheese. Evenly spread in baking dish.

In small bowl combine remaining Parmesan, panko, Italian seasoning, and oil; toss with a fork to combine. Evenly sprinkle over potato mixture in dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and top is golden. Sprinkle with snipped fresh parsley. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Finished product...


The whole meal!

Smoky Chicken and Cheesy Potato Casserole

I am still loving on my casseroles....so tonight I made a new one. I found a recipe somewhere, but then I didn't really follow it at all...so here is what I did...It turned out pretty good. It needed a little more salt than I thought...but I liked the chicken...I need to think of a veggie to add to it. It was still good though...typical comfort food! Really easy, which is always nice.

Ingredients
1 can cream of chicken with herbs condensed soup
8 oz sour cream
6 oz smoked sharp cheddar cheese
1 package frozen hashbrowns defrosted completely-the diced kind
3 cups of rotisserie chicken shredded and cut into bite size pieces
Minced onions, onion powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, season salt (to taste)
Corn flakes to top

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together-except cornflakes. Spread in a generously buttered 9x13 baking dish. Top with crunched up corn flakes and bake for 1 hour.

Tuesday nights dinner!

Kitten Mittens

My brother thinks my cats need to wear kitten mittens....hilarious. Okay, I will be done with the cat pictures for awhile.


Maybe.

Pork Piccata

I saw this post on the Serendipity Bistro blog I read...it sounded just delicious. And it was. The flavors were amazing. I will definitely be making this one again soon. I have a lots of new recipes to try this week, and if they all turn out like this. Its going to be a great week for food in this household. The only thing I did different was added more of everything to the sauce, oh and I topped with a little fresh grated Parmesan cheese (I have to have cheese on my pasta) Oh, and I added some fresh spinach to the pasta after it cooked just to feel more healthy after I put large amounts of butter in the sauce...I like a lot of sauce. A LOT. It was perfect! I could go eat another helping now, but instead I am enjoying a piece of fruit pizza while getting my recipes in! Tomorrow I am trying a new casserole:) Stay tuned for a week of new recipes!

Ingredients
1 pork tenderloin (I use peppercorn-well she did, but so did I)
1/2 c. flour
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter, divided
2 Tbsp capers
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. dry white wine or white cooking wine
1/4 c. lemon juice
Hot cooked linguine noodles

Directions
Cut tenderloin into 1/2"thick medallions
Combine flour, salt & pepper in a shallow dish
Coat pork in flour mixture, shake off excess
Heat olive oil & 2 tbsp of butter over med-high heat
Cook pork until golden brown on both sides
Remove from pan & keep warm
Return pan to heat.
Add capers & garlic, cook for 1 minute
Add broth, wine & lemon juice, cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently
Add 2 tbsp butter, cook & stir until butter has melted & sauce has thickened slightly, about 1 minute
Remove from heat

Pour half of sauce over linguine & toss gently
Place pork back in pan & serve with sauce

Don't let the picture fool you, this was only my first helping...


Mmmm mmmmmm!

Fruit Pizza

I love making fruit pizza, even though its a big pain in the butt! Cutting all that fruit is worth it though. We had a potluck brunch at work today, so I took it for that, and then tonight, I made another one for us to enjoy at home:) Here is the Kraft Recipe. I don't follow exactly...I use a lot of foil though-makes it way easier. I did squeeze a lemon over the fruit when I made it for work so it wouldn't brown. It worked perfectly.

Directions
1 pkg. (20 oz.) refrigerated sliceable sugar cookies, sliced

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Assorted fruit, such as sliced kiwi, strawberries, blueberries and drained, canned mandarin orange segments

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Line 12-inch pizza pan with foil; spray with cooking spray. Arrange cookie dough slices in single layer in prepared pan; press together to form crust. Bake 14 minutes; cool. Invert onto serving plate; carefully remove foil. Invert on large serving plate or tray so crust is right-side-up.

BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Spread over crust.

ARRANGE fruit over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 2 hours. Cut into 12 wedges to serve. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

Mmmmm. Healthy, right?

Another shot...I didn't arrange the fruit too fancy this time, I got lazy:)

Jack Stack BBQ

Hands down, my favorite Kansas City BBQ place is Jack Stack...yummy. Their Cheesy Corn is to die for-I actually have a copycat recipe of it I will have to post. We went with my dad before we had to see him off at the airport:( Sherron Collins was on his flight back to Chicago-after the worst loss ever-BOO. Miss you already Dad! Thanks for everything, love you! I took a picture of each persons food to commemorate the experience...your mouth will be watering!

Brett got the special...sausage, chicken, and ribs. Of course, cheesy corn.


My dad had a brisket and pork sammy!


Kevin had a ham and turkey sandwich!


I had a spicy pulled pork sandwich-look at that vat of corn!


Katie had ham and turkey too, but notice the cheesy potato bake...YUM! Worth getting, I promise.


Okay...go get some BBQ!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

GO KU! In case you didn't know, I am a huge KU Fan, and so are my cats.

Olive


Carson

No Bake Cookies

I made some of these this weekend, I haven't been making many desserts lately. Thank you to my friend Andrea who gave me this recipe long ago. She used to make them for us at work:) Yum. Can't go wrong here, really.

Ingredients
In Bowl:
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In Saucepan:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 stick butter

Mix ingredients in bowl. Heat ingredients in saucepan and boil for 30 seconds-important for the cookies to set-up. Pour hot mixture into oatmeal mixture and stir together. Spoon cookies onto foil and let set up. Enjoy!

Yum!

Chicken Parmesan

So, my dad has been here since Thursday-YAY! :) I love having my family coming visit. We ate at Biemer's BBQ in Lawrence on Thursday night, which was really delicious. I had the pulled pork. We had Mr. Goodcents (my favorite sandwich place in Lawrence) for lunch on Friday, and Friday night, my dad made Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, and some salad. Delish! We all ate too much, watched a ton of basketball games, and I lost horribly playing cards. Anyway...here is the recipe my dad made us:)

Ingredients
(I am not putting specific amounts, you can determine how much you want to make-like last night we used 6 huge chicken breasts....to feed an army-US!)
Seasoned Bread Crumbs
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Olive Oil
Spaghetti Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Spaghetti

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat chicken breasts with bread crumbs and brown each side in olive oil. Pour a good amount of spaghetti sauce to cover 9x13 dish and put browned chicken in the pan. Pour remaining sauce on top of chicken, followed by a good amount of mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 35-40 minutes until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with spaghetti and extra sauce if needed. My dad had a bunch of sauce in with the chicken which had even more flavor with the cheese, etc...Delicious.

Thanks Dad!! Love you!

After we had already served some up-one of 2 dishes of the chicken...


My very large plateful:)

Spinach, Tomato, Garlic, and Pine Nut Pizza=AMAZING.

I make homemade pizza a lot. Lets be honest...pizza in Kansas SUCKS. Big time. I miss Gino's, Malnati's, the very best deep dish, or thinnner, still delicious square cut pizza in Chicago. Here, nothing compares, not even a little bit. People here don't know what pizza is. It makes me sick.

Okay, off my rampage. I make homemade pizza...it still doesn't compare, but it is better than wasting my money. I wanted to try some new ingredients tonight, and this is what I came up with...I really LOVED it...so much I ate almost a half of the thing. Kevin liked it too-although I had to put pepperoni on his side, because he cannot have a meal without meat (so silly).

Sorry these directions are terrible! This is what happens when I throw stuff together:)

Ingredients
1 refrigerated pizza crust-I use the Pillsbury Original (I set out and let it rest in some EVOO for a bit)
1/2 block of cream cheese
EVOO, salt and pepper
Pizza Sauce (I use the Contadina, for this recipe I only used about 3/4 a can)
Grated Parmesan Cheese (I like the tub of pre-grated, but not the shaker kind)
Mozzarella Cheese-about a half bag or so...
1 container of grape tomatoes
1/4-1/2 cup of pine nuts, toasted, I used a small bag
Baby Spinach leaves-however much you can pack on:)
5 or 6 cloves of garlic-minced

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. I followed pizza crust directions. Pre-Bake crust like package says, so that your crust won't be soggy. While that bakes, toast pine nuts and remove from heat (just ina dry skillet over a low heat for 5-10 minutes, shaking every few minutes. In a small bowl mix softened cream cheese and a few tablespoons olive oil. In a small skillet, put tomatoes, minced up garlic with EVOO, salt and pepper, and cook until almost tender, I wanted the tomatoes not to burst, but be soft, so I didn't do it too long, and they turned out perfect, and did not burst in the oven either.

When the crust is done, then take out of oven, and spread a thin layer of cream cheese mixture on crust. Then another thin layer of store bought pizza sauce. Then I sprinkled some of each of the cheeses (parm and mozz). Then I placed spinach leaves on top of that in a pretty thick layer. Then some more cheese...then I dumped on the tomato/garlic mixture too. On top of that went the pine nuts. I topped with a bit more cheese...and stuck it back in the oven until all melted and the crust was brown-following pizza crust directions.

Here was the results....

Before it went in the oven (after the pre-bake and ingredients were added)


Fresh out of the oven-notice Kevin's side with the pepperoni...


Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Lasagna Stoup

Sooooo I copied this from one of my favorite blogs...http://serendipitybistro.blogspot.com/...I saw this and had to try it. I really like Rachael Ray recipes, and it seems that is where this recipe originated. It was really good. We had garlic bread and Caesar salad with it!

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1# ground chuck
Salt & pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled & grated
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth-I used only about 3 cups...
One 28-ounce can Italian crushed tomatoes
1 pound lasagna noodles, broken into jagged pieces-I only used a half pound of noodles
1 c basil leaves, torn
1 c whole-milk ricotta
Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, to pass around the table

Directions
In a soup pot, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the beef, season with salt & pepper & cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the onion, carrots & garlic and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in 2 cups water (I used 1), the chicken broth & tomatoes; cover and bring to a boil. Add the pasta & cook until al dente about 15 minutes. Stir in the basil & season with salt & pepper. Serve the stoup in bowls & dollop with the ricotta. Pass the parmigiano-reggiano at the table. Enjoy!

The whole meal! Notice the large amount of cheese....:)


Lasagna Stoup!

Ham and Cheese Quiche

I had been wanting to make a quiche for a loooooong time, I just kept forgetting to buy half and half, or pie crusts....and its something I never really eat. I don't think Kevin even knew what it was! It turned out really delicious-we cut the recipe in half, and just made one...but we ate the whole thing! It felt good to finally make something new again and be back in the kitchen after so much eating out. Oh, and I added garlic powder, season salt, extra minced onions, onion powder, and a few other seasonings to the mix...otherwise I followed the directions perfectly-which I never do! I was scared of burning the crust! A little bit of my crust fell off when I pulled off the foil-but it was me being sloppy, otherwise it looked great! You can find the original recipe here http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ham-N-Cheese-Quiche/Detail.aspx.

Ingredients
2 (9 inch) pastry shells
2 cups diced fully cooked ham
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons dried minced onion
4 eggs2 cups half-and-half cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Line unpricked pastry shells with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer.

Divide ham, cheese and onion between the shells. In a bowl, whisk eggs, cream, salt and pepper. Pour into shells. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Or cover edges with foil and bake at 400 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Quiche


Quiche take 2


First slice

Big 12 Tourney!

Kevin and I have been in KC since Thursday at the Big 12 Tournament. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!! We had an awesome time watching the games, hanging out in KC, and eating a bunch of random junk....we had all the good stuff at the Sprint Center like Pulled Pork Nachos, pretzels, BBQ, cookies....all the best stuff...and then we ate out a few times, including at Houston's on the plaza. It was such a fun weekend...it was our late Valentine's Day gift to each other! I cannot wait to go back next year:)

Here are some pictures from the weekend!

At the games....


With the cows!!


Pulled Pork Nachos


Champs!!!


The best Pork Chops EVER at Houston's....


Kevin's sammy and DELISH fries at Houston's...


What a fun weekend. I do not want it to be over:(

Cornflake Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders

I borrowed this recipe from another blog I follow. You can see the original recipe and blog here-http://jayhawkgirlskitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/cornflakes. I needed to use some chicken before we head up to the Big 12 Tourney tomorrow:) I followed the recipe pretty close, but I didn't use light dressing, and I forgot to get scallions. I added in garlic salt, season salt, and minced onion to the dressing mixture. They turned out really tasty!

Ingredients
1 spray(s) cooking spray
2/3 cup(s) lite honey mustard dressing
1/8 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tsp dill, freshly chopped
1 medium scallion(s), finely sliced
1 cup(s) cornflake crumbs
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4 oz pieces

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a shallow pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine honey mustard dressing, salt, pepper, dill and scallions; remove 1/3 cup and set aside.

Place cornflake crumbs in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken into dressing mixture and then cornflake crumbs; place in prepared pan.

Bake until chicken is golden and no longer pink in center, about 15 minutes.

Drizzle remaining dressing mixture (the 1/3 cup that was set aside) over chicken breasts and serve. Yields 1 piece of chicken and about 1 1/3 tablespoons of dressing per serving.

I ended up eating more than 2, I am a fatty!


Yummy!

Easy Beef Strogonoff

This is probably one of my all-time favorite meals. YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tweaked the recipe out of my elementary school cookbook. When I make this, I eat WAY too much:) DEEEEEEEEEELISH. I threw in a couple pictures of our babies too...

Ingredients
Beef-I change it up...I have been using breakfast steaks and cutting them into thin strips, or if I have tons of time I will cut up stew meat small and use that, you need something tender!!!
A tad of oil to brown the beef with
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
A touch of water
1 package of dry onion soup mix
16 oz sour cream
Wide egg noodles
Butter

Directions
Brown beef in oil in electric skillet, after beef is cooked through, mix in mushroom soup, onion soup, and a little water-maybe a 1/2 can or so. Stir until all combined and bring to a boil. Let simmer until tender (cover and turn temp down)-the longer the better, I try for at least an hour, even with already tender meat. When close to serving time, cook noodles according to package, and when done, drain and add some butter to them. Right before serving add the sour cream to the beef mixture, and stir in. Once its all warm, serve over the noodles. Then eat a very large serving until you feel sick. (Hahaha)YUMMMMMMMMMMM!

Here it is:)


Kevin enjoying his strogonoff with Olly:)


My babies....


Brett was holding them against their will!

Scarlet Orchid

Scarlet Orchid is one of my favorite, if not very favorite place to eat in Lawrence. No one I know goes there, and its truly a place Kevin and I enjoy. You have to be willing to try new things, but the flavors are just soooooooooo good. They have such fresh, unique menu items, and going there is always a treat. We went last night after KU whooped Missouri's butt:) My pictures are so dark , because its really dim there, and I forgot my camera, so I only had my phone. Everything I have ever had there has been delicious. I guess you gotta like Asian food, and not be too picky. Plus, its never crowded which means no waiting-love that! I highly suggest trying it! Their Spring Rolls are so good, even though last night we didn't have them-we tried the potstickers. For dinner they give you this delicious bread, and if you have lunch you get soup. I also love the Almond Chicken, and the Pad Thai. I will try to get good pictures next time we go!

The Bread-it must be fried somehow before the serve it, its so good and a bit sweet!


I had already shoveled one potsticker in my mouth before I snapped this shot-YUMMY. The spring rolls are really good too though....All the sauces are delicious!


I had the Spicy Green Beans-to die for. I have them with chicken. Mmmmmm. Kevin had Chicken Teriaki, but he always is trying new things:)