Am I too Easy?

I noticed that a few of my recipes start with the word, "Easy". I like "Easy" recipes. But then again its not like a recipe would start with the words, "Hard" or "Difficult". But perhaps I should try something different soon.
Anyway, as you will see from the pictures, this was the last recipe I made in our old apartment, and it make me just a teensy bit sad. I miss that kitchen SO much. My new one is nice, but has NO counterspace. There are counters, but none that are very big. My husband keeps telling me one day he will build me a house, and I get to design the kitchen. I know this will likely happen in like 50 years, when he retires, but a girl can dream right? On with the recipe!

Easy Mexican Casserole

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef, 2 cups of salsa, 1(16 oz) can chili beans drained, 3 cups tortilla chips, 2 cups sour cream, 1(2 oz) can sliced black olives drained, 1/2 cup chopped green onion, 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

On all those cooking shows the chefs always have their ingredients in cute little bowls, already to go for them. Normally, I am just like, "Screw prepping these in cute bowls, just throw 'em in!" But since I am doing a blog, and taking pics, I figured I should put a little time into it. Just a little.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Stir in salsa, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in beans, heat through.

Beans are so gross. I dislike all types of beans.

Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread crushed tortilla chips in bottom of dish.

The amount of 3 cups of chips, is subjective. Basically if you want a super crispy crust, use way more. Or less if that whats you want. I just eyed it up, and didn't crush them to tiny bits, as you can see. Its really up to you! Isn't cooking fun?

Then spoon beef mixture over chips. Spread sour cream over beef, sprinkle olives, green onions, and tomato over the sour cream. Top with cheese.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Baah dah dah dah dah dah daaaah!!! The finished product! My husband loves this dish. He likes anything spicy and flavorful, so he loves this. I will take his word for it. Once again I will not eat this. Beans, olives, green onions, salsa chunks(I only like picante, not chunks), all things I don't like.
Well I hope whoever makes this will enjoy it. Its pretty fun to make, I like crushing the chips. Good way to relieve stress. Not the best way, but a good one. Well The Price is Right is on. I love that show. Gotta watch! Have a good week!

I'll Be Back

I am back!! Who new moving was such an ordeal that it puts other things in your life on hold? Not that my sister let me forget.
"Are you going to get internet soon? When are you going to update on your blog? Have you seen this picture I put on facebook? Have you heard the new Michael Buble song? Its on youtube!"
That was the basic line of questioning that she gave me for several weeks. I don't even like Michael Buble as much as she does.
Anyway I am back with a new recipe, just in time for Christmas!
"Gramma's Christmas Sugar Cookies"

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup shortening, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp grated orange peel, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 eggs, 8 tbsp milk(thats about 1/2 cup), 4 cups flour, 3 tsp baking powder

These amounts are for a double batch, which I recommend making if you like huge sugar cookies, like I do. I made 2 double batches. You will see the quality of the photo taking goes down as the day grows longer.

Directions:

Thoroughly cream shortening, sugar, orange peel, and vanilla

I don't own a cool little grater, so I have to use my huge cheese one, thats also broken. Its quite deadly, not gonna lie.


Add egg, beat until light and fluffly. Stir in milk.

Sift together dry ingredients, blend in cream mixture.

I also do not have a sifter. I almost bought one, but talked myself out of it, which I usually do with all my almost purchases. Anyway, what does sifting do anyway? Does it really make a huge difference?

Action shot!

Divide dough in half, chill one hour.

My sister chills hers as long as over night, so she doesn't have to do it all in one day. Thats smart. But I wouldn't be able to do it. I need to do it all in one day or it will never get done. And trust me it takes ALL DAY. The following is a picture of how I stay energized.

Here are my cookie cutter. The mug in the back is my circle cookie cutter.


On a floured countertop roll to 1/8 inch thickness. You don't want to think or the cookies will nothing but break.


Cut in desired shapes with cookie cutters.



Bake on cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. It took my new stove 6 minutes, its a gas stove, so basically I think I will blow up the house whenever I turn it on.


My home state!Woot woot!

Cool slightly and remove from pan to frost.

Frosting Recipe: 1/2 butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp almond extract, 1 bag of powdered sugar(32 oz), Milk

Do not make this frosting if you do not have almond extract, it will not be as good.
I did not take a staged pic of the ingredients, it was getting late, and the end was in sight. Note on the amount of milk. For me it was about a cup. Just add as much or as little as you want. Its really about what kind consistancy you want. I wanted super smooth so it was easier to frost with.

Use food coloring and sprinkles to make it way more festive!









Phew! It was an all day project, but I got it done! Frosting used to be my favorite part as a kid, but these days I just want to throw the cookies in the frosting and make one big mass of cookies and frosting. But I took my time, and look how beautiful they turned out. I know. Amazing. And they taste fantastic as well! If you make a ton, freeze them! It makes them last longer and something about them frozen, makes it really good too. Well thats all for me, I will probably see you next year! Holidays also make it very hard to post!

Happy holidays....is what terriosts say. Merry Cristmas from me!

(30 Rock is a very hilarious show, which I got the above quote from)

Say Cheese!

Hello again people! Lets get right to it, shall we?

"Cheesy Cornbread Casserole"

I got it from allrecipes.com but it was a Kraft sponsored recipe so it asks for some name brand stuff. But you can always use whatever brand you want.

Ingredients:

1 lb lean bround beef, 1 chopped onion, 1 seeded, chopped jalapeno pepper, 1 (15 oz) can enchilada sauce, 1 (15 oz) can black beans, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 (8.5 oz) package corn muffin mix, 1 (8 oz) package Kraft Mexican Stle Shredded 4 Cheese with a touch of Philadelphia

As you can see I bought the Kraft cheese. I thought, why not? I sampled a bit before adding it to the recipe and honestly, saw now difference between it and other cheese. Next time, its store brand cheese for me!

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brown meat with onion and pepper in large skillet.

In the past, I have tried rather unsuccessfully to mince onions. Thankfully when I was making this I remembered one of my latest Pampered Chef purchases. Its a Manual Food Processor. I chopped the onion and pepper into small chunks and tossed them in. Then I put the lid on a pumped the handle so the blades moved. And it worked fabulously!

Obviously, whenever a recipe asks for minced veggies, I am using this wonderful gadget!

Stir in next 4 ingredients; cook and stir for 3 minutes, or heated through. Spoon into 13x9 inch baking dish.

Prepare muffin batter as directed on package; stir in cheese. Spread over meat mix.

You are probably wondering why I have added this pic? Well the Jiffy mix I bought called for and egg. I looked in the fridge, pulled out what I thought was a egg carton with several eggs in it. Opened it to find this. I called my wonderful husband and asked, "Did you put a bunch of empty eggshells in the fridge?"

"...Yeah."

"Why?"

"....I don't know."

Counting to 10, I then calmly asked him to pick up eggs on his way home from work and I left the meat mix in the skillet on low so it wouldn't get cold. And when he got home, I continued.

Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cornbread topping comes out clean. Cool slightly.

And its done! The husband really liked, but we both agree next time I will double the recipe. When it was done it was really thin. And the cornbread topping hardly covered the top. The only thing I won't double is the onion. It called for an entire chopped onion, but I only used half of one and it was just fine, and I think it would be great in a double batch for just a hint of onion and the jalapeno. And before you ask, no I did not eat this.

I leave you with my kitchen companion: Rufus

Boil 'em , mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!!

Good day to you readers! Here I am with a recipe that I will actually eat!

"Company Mashed Potatoes"

This recipe, as far as I know, is my mother's. She might have got it from someone else, but who cares? Thank you mom! ;)

Lets get right to it shall we?

Ingredients:

5 lbs potatoes, 8 oz cream cheese, 8 oz sour cream, 1 stick butter or margarine, 1 tsp onion powder.

You will notice the absence of the potatoes in this picture. Well, I peeled them, rinsed them, and cut them. The whole time thinking about the blog, and not remember my usual ingredient picture. Oh well, no harm done!

Directions:

Boil potatoes. For me this took nearly a half an hour. Why so long? I used too small a pot, I think. Well, I think that is the reason for it taking so long, I know it was too small a pot.

Mash the potatoes. Add remaining ingredients, mix well.

Like my mixer? Its a Black and Decker, super legit. I bought a random $5 one at walmart once, and the first time I made frosting it starting smoking. Moral of the story? You get what you pay for.

Put in buttered casserole dish, and garnish with paprika. Refrigerate until needed. Heat in a 350 degree oven until warm.

The finished product! I could seriously eat this whole dish, but I restrained myself. Good thing its for church! I must add that I did not butter the dish, and I don't know if it makes a difference or not. My mom thinks so.

Easy, Chewie

Hello! I am back! This time with a shorter recipe. Its "Easy Chili". Its from this cookbook:

I got it for Christmas in 2009, and I've used this one recipe the most(you may notice the brown stain on the book. That was when I was making Sloppy Joes, and spilled worcestershire sauce on it). This wasn't for my husband's lunches. I made this for Reformation Night at my church. For those of you that don't know Reformation Night is when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses(I so did not spell that right)to the church at Wittenburg in 1517, on the 31st of October. Popularly known as Halloween. Anyway, this is not a history blog. Onto the recipe!

Ingredients:

4 lbs lean ground beef, 2 (1 oz) packages hot chili mix, 1 (6oz) can tomato sauce, 2 (15 oz) cans stewed tomatoes w/ liquid, 2 1/2 tsps ground cumin, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup water

You may notice my cumin is not ground. Well I have a super tiny mortar and pedestal and I thought it would be fun to ground it myself. But it takes forever since its really tiny. It is still fun, I just pretend I am in Snape's potions class.

Directions:

In large skillet break ground beef into pieces. Brown and drain. Use slotted spoon to drain fat and places beef in 5 to 6 quart slow cooker.

I did not take a picture of browning the ground beef because I am was an idiot. I just threw all four pounds of the beef into a medium sized pot. It took FOR-E-VER(channeling Squintz from 'The Sandlot'), and spilled a lot.

Add chili mix, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, cumin, salt, and water.

Yes, the recipe does call for just 2 packages of mix. But my husband wanted more spice, so I obliged. You can add as much or as little as you want. You can even add mild mix instead of hot. Whatever floats your boat.

Cover and cook on LOW, for 4 to 5 hours.

There you have it, the final outcome. I would normally have eaten this, but I got sick once and had this chili, so even if I smell it I get kinda nauseated. Weird how the human mind works, huh?