IT's been a long time..

I haven't been here in a while, and to be honest, I haven't made anything really new in a while.  I don't know what I haven't been blogging I have been cooking.  

November seemed to fly by, it was like I blinked and it was over.  I also lost my client in October, and spent much of November trying to find work.  When I did get work it was really overwhelming.  I couldn't figure out my schedule for the longest time, then I couldn't find the time to shop or cook.  So stressful.

December finally got my full time client.  She is a piece of work.  With all that going on a people canceling on me, almost every day.  There was also a lot to do in December.  The only thing new I made was a chili cheese dip.

Which you need.

8 oz Cream Cheese.
1 15oz can hormel Chili, no beans
2 cups of cheddar cheese, (I used Mexi Blend)

Cream cheese on the bottom, chili in the middle, and cheese on top.  Heat in the microwave for 4 mins and enjoy.

Which brings me to Jan.  We are 1o days in and I haven't made anything new yet.  I promise that  I will try.  Hang in there!!

-Keep Cooking- 

Greek Marinated Chicken

My Hubby and I have a strong love for greek food (I don't eat lamb though).  We like to find places that serve a good gyro.  I like to make my own Taziki sauce.  Whenever I see a recipe that has greek in the name, I have to pin it; make sure that I am saving it for later.  This however wasn't as good as I expected.  I probably didn't marinate the chicken as long as I should have.  And, I probably shouldn't have poured all of the marinade into the pan and baked it.  The greek yogurt separated, and became chucky.  And I couldn't get over the overwhelming taste of lemon.  What did I do wrong?  

I didn't click on the link inside of the link to try and find the directions, I didn't think that they were there until after I made the recipe.  So I did a lot of guessing.  I baked the chicken at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. I was more concerned that I was going to eat raw chicken, rather than being concerned in flavor of the dish.  I was also in a hurry.  I thought that I gave myself plenty of time, and I really didn't.  (Come to find out Hubby didn't get up when I thought he was supposed to....)

So now to give you the recipe....

Greek Marinated Chicken

  Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ Tbsp dried oregano
• 1 medium lemon
• ½ tsp salt
• freshly cracked pepper
• ¼ bunch fresh parsley
• 3½ to 4 lbs chicken pieces

Instructions

Read full details on: www.budgetbytes.com

- See more at: http://www.recipefavorite.com/2013/07/greek-marinated-chicken.html?m=1#sthash.a5bwegpt.dpuf

I didn't even get a bowl :(

Sometimes I make something and I don't get anymore than a taste, and with this soup that was the case.  Hubby was late for work so that he could have another bowl.  I don't blame him, the one little taste that I go was amazing.  

Did I mention that I LOVE my crock pot?  More than love it, I can't live without it.  I can cook a meal and not have to stand in the kitchen all day.  Not that I don't mind standing in the kitchen all day..just sometimes I want to stay on the couch under my blankie, cuddled with my boxer!!!!

I made Buffalo Chicken Soup, it's great.  Now it is pretty spicy, so if that isn't your thing I don't recommend this recipe. If spicy is your thing don't hold back you will love with.  Oh one more thing, there is a rue, it didn't work.  I don't know what happened, but I dumped it in the pot anyways.

Buffalo Chicken Soup

1 tablespoon oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

2 to 3 cups cooked chicken, diced

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour 

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups milk 

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 cup bottled buffalo wing sauce (mild or hot)

4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and celery and saute for about 5 minutes.  Scrap veggies into slow cooker.  Add cooked chicken to the slow cooker.  Melt butter in skillet over medium heat just until foamy.  Whisk in the flour to make a roux, stirring well to incorporate all the flour.  Cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until the roux is slightly golden.  Scrap into the slow cooker.  Stir in broth and milk.  Add garlic salt and wing sauce.  Stir well.  Cover and cook low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.  Stir in cheese about 20 minutes before serving!  

Enjoy on a cold day!!

Not as good as it looks :(

So usually Meatball subs are awesome, this not so much.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't awesome.  I cheated a great deal on this and didn't make my own meatballs (who has time for that?  I guess I do since I don't have a daytime job anymore.)  There really isn't much to this.  I mean it is from the GooseBerry Patch cookbook, and they are time savers, but I think that this would have been better in crock pot, without butter and more meatballs.

Any ways...I will be trying to blog a lot more.  I know that I have broken my set schedule for the year, but really I like to just cook and see what happens.  So I am glad that I have broken the trend.  I also have a lot more time for cooking, so that excites me some.  I applied to sub for my county and I am hoping that I will find a full time sub job, however that is really wishful thinking.  This has really made we want to get back into teaching.  They only down side, I get really attached to the kids.  I think this is what happens when you see the kids 5 days a week for a year.  

Back to cooking....

Italian Meatball Subs
(Dana Thompson, Gooseberry Patch)

1 onion, sliced
1/2 c green pepper, sliced (I used the entire thing)
2 T. Water
8oz can pizza sauce
24 meatballs, cooked
4 Italian hard rolls, sliced and hollowed out
1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese (I used whole slices, couldn't find shredded, and I used a lot)

Cook onion, pepper and water, covered in a large saucepan over medium heat just until tender; drain.  Stir in pizza sauce and meatballs; cook until hot and bubbly.  Fill each roll with 6 meatballs; top with sauce mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese and add roll tops.  Place sandwiches in a lightly greased 13"x9" baking pan.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until bread is crusty and cheese is melted.  Serves 4.

Enjoy!!! :D

Time to bring out the crock pot!!!! (YES!!!!)

Did I mention the fact that FALL is my favorite season?  I can plug in my crock pot and get along with my day.  I can put it all together the night before, and then in the morning before I leave plug in and go.  I can eat soup and not feel hot about it, cause it is time to eat it.  I love it.  I also love that when you make something in the crock pot there seems to be an abundance of food left.  You can eat it for days!  I love cooking, but sometimes there isn't enough time to do so!  

I think that I have made something like this before.  It tastes kind of like the au jui dip.  But this tasted good.  It's not really a comfort food, it is just something yummy to eat.  

From My Crockin' Girls Cook Book

Jenna's Beef Tips
A crockin' girl standby, this flavor- packed recipe makes regular appearances at Jenna's Texas home.

Ingredients

1 can golden mushroom soup
1/2 can water (use can from soup)
1/2 can cooking wine (use can from soup)
1 packet onion soup mix
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, cut into rings
Sirloin tip steaks (2 to 3 Steaks)

Directions
Combine soup, water cooking wine, onion soup mix, and minced garlic in the slow-cooker.  Whisk together to remove lumps, then add onions and steaks.  (We put the steaks into the liquid whole and pull apart the meat once it is cooked; you can cut up the meat before cooking, if desired.)  Make sure the steaks are fully covered in the mixture; add a little liquid to cover them, if needed.  Cook LOW for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Don't buy walmart bread...it molds!

I don't know how many times I will do this and not learn my lesson..for crying out loud my hubby is an Assistant Manager for walmart and I still buy the bread there.  Every single time i buy it, before I can eat it, usually the day after it molds.  It would be nice for me to be able to use a little bit of it, I can't even manage a sandwich with it.  I had to replace both things of bread, and I went to wegmans this time.  

I am not sure if this recipe is a real winner.  It's not horrible, but I was expecting a little bit more flavor.  My hubby loved the burger and he would have liked the slaw a lot better if there were different veggies in them.  

Chicken Kiev Burgers and Russian-Style Slaw Salad

The herbed butter in the center of the burger adds great flavor and tons of moisture and is a good-time, exploding centerpiece to this fast and simple meal.

4 servings (way more than that)

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped (a few sprigs, stripped)
4 tablespoon-size tabs of cold butter (1/2 stick cut in 4 thick slices)
2 pounds of ground chicken
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, divided
Salt and Pepper
EVOO
4 rounded tablespoons of sour cream
Juice of 1 lemon
4 to 5 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
8 radishes, sliced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded carrots
1 English cucumber, thinly sliced into half moons
3 celery ribs, thinly sliced
2 cups coleslaw mix
4 slices of rye bread or marble rye, toasted

Preheat a large nonstick skillet, indoor grill pan, or tabletop grill to medium-high heat.

On your cutting board, combine 2 tablespoons of the chopped parsley, the chopped chives, and the chopped thyme.  Dip toe tabs of cold butter into the herbs one at a time, pressing the herbs into the butter to coat them completely.

In a medium bowl combine the ground chicken, Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of the mustard, salt, and pepper.  Form the mixture into 4 large patties no more than 1 inch thick.  Nest 1 herb-coated bold butter tab into the center of each patty and gently form the patty around the butter.  Drizzle EVOO over the patties and place them in a hot skillet or on a hot grill.  Cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side.

While the burgers are cooking, in a mixing bowl thoroughly combine the sour cream, lemon juice, dill, horseradish, and the remaining tablespoon of mustard.  Add the radishes, red onion, carrots, cucumber, celery, coleslaw mix, the remaining 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.  Toss to combine.  Serve the Kiev burgers open faced of a slice of toast with the salad alongside.

I don't really eat chicken salad....But,k

I don't like chicken salad.  Cold chicken is not my thing, I don't eat a cold turkey sandwich after thanksgiving either.  But, I like rice and I like mandarin oranges so I thought that this was worth a try.  And I am really glad that I did.  It is really simple and doesn't take much time. there was a lot left, and the hubby made it disappear.  I really like my "Gooseberry Patch" cookbook.  It really comes in handy!!

Orange-Wild Rice Chicken Salad

Heads up!  This isn't your ordinary chicken salad..it's better!  This salad boasts wild rice, sugar snap peas and mandarin oranges.

6-oz. pkg. long grain and wild rice, cooked
2 c. cooked chicken breast, shredded (I cubbed them)
1 c. sugar snap peas, trimmed (I used frozen and I used the entire bag)
15 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained (I couldn't find 15, so I found 19.5 and used them all)
1.2 c honey-Dijon salad dressing (I couldn't find this so I used honey mustard salad dressing and added Dijon)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; mix well.  Chill until serving time. Serves 4.

(or if your hubby decides that he likes it serves 2).

Rhonda Redder
Ellicott City, Md