When I was working, it always seemed that Mondays were the hardest and longest day of the week. I would scramble to get home and try and throw something together for dinner. Now that I'm staying at home again, it seems I'm always super busy right at dinner time.
I've learned things that I can make ahead of time are the best things for me to cook right now. The recipe I'm about to give you is quite versatile. You can make it the night before or a few hours before, cover it with foil and stick it in the fridge. I learned this the hard way but am glad I did so I can share with you.
I have made this two ways now. The first way was with taco sauce as the original recipe called for. Aaron wasn't all that impressed. Tonight I made it with enchilada sauce per his suggestion. He liked it a lot better tonight. Me? I liked it both ways.
Taco Stuffed Shells:
1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
4 ozs cream cheese
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
1 jar (no more than 16 ozs) salsa, any heat you prefer
1 jar taco sauce OR 1 can enchilada sauce, any heat you prefer
2 cups of shredded cheese (I like the Mexican blend for just about everything.)
Brown your hamburger meat and mix the seasoning in according to the directions on the packet. After the sauce has thickened, add in the cream cheese. Heat until the cheese is melted. While the meat is cooking, cook the shells according to the package's directions. Take the meat mixture off the heat and cool completely. Drain the shells and place on a cutting board or baking sheet where they won't touch until they cool completely. Spray the bottom of a 9X13 pan with cooking spray. Pour the entire jar of salsa into the pan and completely cover the bottom of the pan. Fill each shell with the meat mixture and place in the pan on top of the salsa. Pour the enchilada sauce or taco sauce on top of the shells. If you want to refrigerate and put up until later, this is the point you would do that. If not, continue following the directions. Cook in a 350* oven, covered, for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, cover the shells with the shredded cheese. Place back in the oven for 10-15 minutes, uncovered, until cheese and sauce is bubbly.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Tuesday Tip
Yes, I realize I'm posting twice today. I couldn't stand to let Tuesday pass without a tip. We've had a crazy few days at the Pier house or I guess I better say crazier than normal.
My tip today is cooking packet dinners. What is that? It's basically an entire meal cooked in a foil packet. I love these because, once again, there is little to no clean up. If you're not comfortable putting the packets directly on the grates of your oven, you can put them on a baking sheet. Remember to line that baking sheet with either parchment paper or foil.
You can find lots of recipes on the internet for these types of dinner. Today I'm going to share one that my mom dubbed "Hobo Dinners". I have no idea where she got the recipe. It is super simple and quite yummy. It's rather versatile too. I typically don't use onion on mine, but you could. I have in the past. Aaron's the only one in the house that'll eat onion so I don't cut one just for him. (Love you honey!!) You can also season the meat any way you want. I season them the way we do our burgers. I wouldn't, however, leave out the worcestershire sauce. If you don't like worcestershire, I could see this being yummy using soy sauce, BBQ sauce or teriyaki sauce.
I'm not giving you an amount when it comes to the potatoes either. It depends on the size of the potato and how much you will eat. However, you don't want to over fill the packet with potato. Aaron and I can usually split one potato.
Hobo Dinners:
Hamburger patties, one for every one you're going to feed
salt
pepper
garlic powder
worcestershire sauce
potatoes sliced thinly length wise
butter
Tear off a square of foil for each packet that you're going to make. It needs to be big enough that once it's all put together it will completely close. Place one patty in the center of each piece of foil. Season the patty on both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. (You can use whatever seasonings you like. This is just how I do it.) Cover the patty in worcestershire sauce. Place the sliced potatoes on top of the patty. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Put a couple pats of butter on top of the potatoes. Close up your packet by folding in two sides and rolling the other two sides together. Place in a 350* oven for 1 hour. Enjoy!!
My tip today is cooking packet dinners. What is that? It's basically an entire meal cooked in a foil packet. I love these because, once again, there is little to no clean up. If you're not comfortable putting the packets directly on the grates of your oven, you can put them on a baking sheet. Remember to line that baking sheet with either parchment paper or foil.
You can find lots of recipes on the internet for these types of dinner. Today I'm going to share one that my mom dubbed "Hobo Dinners". I have no idea where she got the recipe. It is super simple and quite yummy. It's rather versatile too. I typically don't use onion on mine, but you could. I have in the past. Aaron's the only one in the house that'll eat onion so I don't cut one just for him. (Love you honey!!) You can also season the meat any way you want. I season them the way we do our burgers. I wouldn't, however, leave out the worcestershire sauce. If you don't like worcestershire, I could see this being yummy using soy sauce, BBQ sauce or teriyaki sauce.
I'm not giving you an amount when it comes to the potatoes either. It depends on the size of the potato and how much you will eat. However, you don't want to over fill the packet with potato. Aaron and I can usually split one potato.
Hobo Dinners:
Hamburger patties, one for every one you're going to feed
salt
pepper
garlic powder
worcestershire sauce
potatoes sliced thinly length wise
butter
Tear off a square of foil for each packet that you're going to make. It needs to be big enough that once it's all put together it will completely close. Place one patty in the center of each piece of foil. Season the patty on both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. (You can use whatever seasonings you like. This is just how I do it.) Cover the patty in worcestershire sauce. Place the sliced potatoes on top of the patty. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Put a couple pats of butter on top of the potatoes. Close up your packet by folding in two sides and rolling the other two sides together. Place in a 350* oven for 1 hour. Enjoy!!
Friday Night Dinner
I know in my last Friday night dinner post I mentioned that I rarely cook on Friday nights. However, we had already eaten out three nights last week, so I really thought we needed a home cooked meal. I don't have anything against eating out, but I get tired of it and I had bought all those groceries last week.
We love Pei Wei. Michael especially loves their honey seared chicken. Imagine my excitement when I came across for a honey chicken recipe that's similar to that at Pei Wei. The biggest difference is the chicken isn't fried before being put in the sauce. The other great part about this recipe is that it can be cooked either in the oven or in the crock pot. I did it in the oven because, go figure, I got busy with the girls and forgot about dinner. I was also almost able to throw this dinner completely together in the time it takes one of the girls' bottles to warm. (4 1/2 minutes for those that might be wondering.) I served the chicken over brown rice. Yes, my little picky eater prefers brown rice to white rice. I'll put that in the win column.
For my friends in Midland, anyone that can get me a knock off recipe of Kuo's honey chicken will have my undying gratitude forever. I love and miss that stuff.
Want to see the original recipe? Find it here.
Honey Seared Chicken:
3/4 pounds chicken (I used chicken breast. You use whatever you like.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp back pepper
1/2 cup honey (Get the real stuff. Not the fake stuff they sell at the grocery store.)
1/8 cup chopped onion or 1/16 cup onion flake (I used the flake. Less clean up and no tears.)
1/8 cup ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce (Use the light for less sodium, Your heart will thank you.)
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Slow Cooker Directions: Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine all other ingredients. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for three hours or high for for 1 1/2 hours. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Return to pot and toss with sauce.
Oven Directions: Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Place in an 8X8 pan. Combine all other ingredients. Pour sauce over chicken. Stir to be sure chicken is coated. Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes uncovered. Stir again after 10 minutes.
Serves 2
Something I would do differently the next time I fix this is to take the sauce after cooking the chicken, make a slurry out of corn starch and water and thicken it on the stove top.
We love Pei Wei. Michael especially loves their honey seared chicken. Imagine my excitement when I came across for a honey chicken recipe that's similar to that at Pei Wei. The biggest difference is the chicken isn't fried before being put in the sauce. The other great part about this recipe is that it can be cooked either in the oven or in the crock pot. I did it in the oven because, go figure, I got busy with the girls and forgot about dinner. I was also almost able to throw this dinner completely together in the time it takes one of the girls' bottles to warm. (4 1/2 minutes for those that might be wondering.) I served the chicken over brown rice. Yes, my little picky eater prefers brown rice to white rice. I'll put that in the win column.
For my friends in Midland, anyone that can get me a knock off recipe of Kuo's honey chicken will have my undying gratitude forever. I love and miss that stuff.
Want to see the original recipe? Find it here.
Honey Seared Chicken:
3/4 pounds chicken (I used chicken breast. You use whatever you like.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp back pepper
1/2 cup honey (Get the real stuff. Not the fake stuff they sell at the grocery store.)
1/8 cup chopped onion or 1/16 cup onion flake (I used the flake. Less clean up and no tears.)
1/8 cup ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce (Use the light for less sodium, Your heart will thank you.)
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Slow Cooker Directions: Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine all other ingredients. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for three hours or high for for 1 1/2 hours. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Return to pot and toss with sauce.
Oven Directions: Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Place in an 8X8 pan. Combine all other ingredients. Pour sauce over chicken. Stir to be sure chicken is coated. Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes uncovered. Stir again after 10 minutes.
Serves 2
Something I would do differently the next time I fix this is to take the sauce after cooking the chicken, make a slurry out of corn starch and water and thicken it on the stove top.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Saturday Morning Breakfast
Last Saturday morning, Michael woke up wanting cinnamon rolls. I had forgotten to put them on the grocery list so we didn't have any. Michael was ready to sign his mommy up for mother of the year at that point. I then realized I had pinned a recipe for a cinnamon roll cake on pinterest. I told Michael we were going to make homemade cinnamon rolls. I didn't tell him it was cake because I didn't want him going to school on Monday telling them that Mommy fed him cake. My mom would let me have pecan pie for breakfast and got talked to when I told my teacher about it.
I wish I could say that the cake went off without a hitch since I bake so many cakes. However, Saturday morning I made several rookie mistakes. The first mistake was making sure I had enough flour to make the recipe. I had exactly two cups of all purpose flour but the recipe called for three. I noticed, though, that from Aaron's bread making days, we had an almost full bag of whole wheat flour. Yes I used a cup of whole wheat flour in my cake. It made the texture a little firm and the edges and bottom were a little crunchy but it tasted fabulous. My second mistake was not checking to see how much powdered sugar we had. I usually have two or three bags of the stuff on hand so I can make buttercream at a moments notice. I haven't made any cakes lately so I didn't have as much powdered sugar as I thought. The glaze was probably a little runnier than it would've been had I checked how much powdered sugar I had. I also barely had enough regular sugar to make the cake. (Yes, I've already sent in my application for baker of the year also.)
I tell you all this to let you know that I make mistakes in the kitchen all the time. However, sometimes mistakes can be good and make your recipes better. Sometimes, like this time, they don't do anything really. Other times, yes, they can completely ruin your recipe. Just because you make a mistake doesn't mean everything is lost.
Here is the original recipe.
Cinnamon Roll Cake:
Cake:
3 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 c sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 c milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c butter, melted
Topping:
1 c butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
Glaze:
2 c powdered sugar
5 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350*. Mix everything together for the cake except the melted butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9X13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake for 28-32 minutes. While the cake is still warm, drizzle glaze over cake.
I wish I could say that the cake went off without a hitch since I bake so many cakes. However, Saturday morning I made several rookie mistakes. The first mistake was making sure I had enough flour to make the recipe. I had exactly two cups of all purpose flour but the recipe called for three. I noticed, though, that from Aaron's bread making days, we had an almost full bag of whole wheat flour. Yes I used a cup of whole wheat flour in my cake. It made the texture a little firm and the edges and bottom were a little crunchy but it tasted fabulous. My second mistake was not checking to see how much powdered sugar we had. I usually have two or three bags of the stuff on hand so I can make buttercream at a moments notice. I haven't made any cakes lately so I didn't have as much powdered sugar as I thought. The glaze was probably a little runnier than it would've been had I checked how much powdered sugar I had. I also barely had enough regular sugar to make the cake. (Yes, I've already sent in my application for baker of the year also.)
I tell you all this to let you know that I make mistakes in the kitchen all the time. However, sometimes mistakes can be good and make your recipes better. Sometimes, like this time, they don't do anything really. Other times, yes, they can completely ruin your recipe. Just because you make a mistake doesn't mean everything is lost.
Here is the original recipe.
Cinnamon Roll Cake:
Cake:
3 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 c sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 c milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c butter, melted
Topping:
1 c butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
Glaze:
2 c powdered sugar
5 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350*. Mix everything together for the cake except the melted butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9X13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake for 28-32 minutes. While the cake is still warm, drizzle glaze over cake.
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