Snow and pork chops

We are in the middle of another ice storm. It's begun to snow now overtop the 1-2" of ice though, so the roads weren't as bad as I was expecting this morning. Our office never really closes for bad weather...(edit, edit) so I made it into work at 9 today with no problems though. Getting out of our neighborhood is always the hardest part because the roads are curvy and hilly.

I started another book in the meantime before I need to start my book club book. I'm reading "The Killer Inside Me" by Jim Thompson. It's pretty good, I'm not as into it as I thought I'd be. It's a first person narrative of a guy who gives in to his "sickness" and it goes into him rationale behind each killing. It's a quick read and easy. Creepy in a 1950's way - the killer enjoys being corny and making people feel uncomfortable because they find him simple and boring. But he's just needling them in his own way.

Yesterday my office did let us go early, I was shocked! The weathermen were crying the apocalypse so it freaked us all out enough to go ahead on home. I think after this past Christmas' snow storm though, this is small beans. Still dangerous, but we still have power so I'm thankful. But when the weather is bad, I want to cook! Correction...I want to BAKE. But I restrained myself so we wouldn't pig out on cookies all night. Instead I made a pork chop dinner, which turned out delicious. I think I am a fan of pork chops now. They were such a nice change from beef (I've been out of chicken for a while and am indignant that chicken is so expensive).

French Onion Soup Pork Chops
- two butterfly cut pork chops, thawed
-1 can Campbells French Onion Soup
Directions
-thaw out your pork chops, or wait long enough so the outside is thawed
-sear the chops in a skillet with some olive oil, a couple minutes on each side
-put chops in a crockpot and pour soup over them
-cook on High for 4 hours

I think searing the chops made them so much better. I've done it before without searing them, and they got a little dry. These were delicious! I'm probably going to make these often., they are "company worthy" too, if you find the right sides. My sides didn't go too well. I would put butter mashed potatoes and corn instead with this meal, or sweet potatoes and green beans or something. I put too much garlic in our green beans last night and had to throw them out :(

Menu Plan Monday

I made a 2 week meal plan a week ago...but I want to change it. With this being almost 3 weeks between pay-periods, I'm going to have to be creative on spreading my groceries out until the next paycheck. I hate going over budget on groceries. Hate. It.

Monday - Leftover Tomato/Crouton Soup, and Fried Rice I made over the weekend
Tuesday -Italian Goulash
Wednesday - Parmesan Tilapia and mashed potatoes and canned veggies
Thursday - eating out with friends and going to a Booth Brothers concert!!
Friday - something with the pork chops I bought last week?
Saturday - Grilled cheese and canned soup
Sunday - homemade pizza
Monday - Spaghetti with ground Turkey instead of beef (it's cheaper)

I doubt I will stick exactly to my menu, but it's a good guideline because I know I have these ingredients in the house. Also, a good cooking tip would be to try to make a meal on Saturday or Sunday that you only intend to eat for your lunches during the week. Casseroles, a pasta dish, or large-quantity bean burrito recipes are good for this. Fried rice is what I made this weekend to feed us for a few lunches.

Italian Bread Soup (Tomato & Crouton Soup)

I've been cooking a lot lately, it's been a lot of fun! I got a couple of new crockpot cookbooks for Christmas and have been flipping through them picking out interesting recipes. This particular recipe caught my eye because of the amazing picture. It's not this picture below, but it's similar. It just looked so warm and comforting and delicious. And it was!!! My only complaint was that it made SO much soup. It probably made enough for about 6-8 large bowls of soup, so make it for a large gathering, or pack it up in Tupperware bowls and give it out to your book club friends. That's what I did :)


Italian Bread Soup (Tomato & Crouton Soup)
-2 cans (or about 28 oz) Chicken Broth
-4 cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with liquid (I just used Italian diced tomatoes because the fire roasted ones were more expensive than I like to pay for tomatoes)
-3 cups Caesar croutons
-1 small onion, diced
-1 packet of Italian dressing mix
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
-Dump all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours.
-Serve with parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of basil on top.

This recipe surprised me. I thought the croutons would disintegrate or something, or just make the soup thicker. They actually swelled up and made the soup kind of "bready". I don't know how to describe it. I really liked the texture. I wasn't so sure going into it if I'd like so many chunks of tomato in my soup, but it didn't end up bothering me. It was kind of a fancy-feeling soup, so I would think pairing this soup for a larger party with some finger foods would be fabulous! I also would think the fire-roasted tomatoes would be worth it for the spiciness. I would be curious to make it again and see how spicy it is supposed to be. It just made so much soup for just me and Blake and I'm not a big "leftovers fan"... I'm having some leftover today, so if it's horrible I'll let you know. (Update - even better as leftovers! yum!)

I had my second book club meeting this Saturday. It was so fun! We discussed the book "Julie & Julia". Collectively, we all agreed the book was horrid. But we discussed how horrid it was over mini-quiches, bread & brie, and mini-apple tarts. It was a glorious night. Our next book pick is my turn: "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I hope it's good!

Amazing Cornbread Taco Casserole Recipe!!

I could not wait to post this morning! Last night I made the most delicious recipe...Blake declared it top 10 EVER for him, and it's definitely in my top 10 of EVER also. I haven't had such a hands-down recipe success in while. I can't wait to have leftovers tonight!!

Cornbread Taco Casserole
1 lb ground beef
1 can cream corn (I used normal corn and just sprinkled a little Splenda in the cornbread mix)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
2/3 cup salsa
1/2 teaspoon of onion flakes (I used 1 full tsp b/c we love onions)
1 cup water
1 can black beans
1-2 cups shredded cheese

-Preheat oven to 375. Mix corn, cornbread mix and 1/2 cup water in small bowl.
-Spread mixture into bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes
and then remove.
-Cook meat with onion, drain well. Add 1/2 cup water and taco seasoning and simmer until water is absorbed. Add salsa and black beans to meat and mix well. Spoon meat mixture over cornbread evenly. Top with cheese.
-Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese bubbles.

While the cornbread mixture cooks for 10 minutes in the oven, start browning your beef.

Once your beef is browned, add salsa and black beans.

Pour beans over your half-baked cornbread and add cheese.

Wow this was amazing!

Smothered Chicken

I feel boring, I don't have anything to talk about lately than cooking! I guess I have a video of Doogan eating. He gets so excited to eat that he tries to meow while he's eating and it sounds like a turkey gobble. It was so cute! He outgrew it pretty quickly unfortunately. The first couple of weeks we had him it was really loud and he'd do it the WHOLE time he was eating. I didn't think to video him until he started not doing it as much. But here is what he kinda was doing:



I made Smothered Chicken last night. Well, I made it late last night after dinner so we'd have a decent lunch option today. I got a bit of it and it was pretty good. Not "Wow" but a good meal. I modified it because I couldn't find any "Cream of Chicken Verde" soup. Now I'm really curious what it is supposed to taste like.

Smothered Chicken
- 3-4 frozen chicken breasts
- 2 cans of Cream of Chicken Verde Soup
- 16 oz frozen baby corn (I just used a can of normal corn)
- 1 onion, diced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
- 8 oz can sliced mushrooms

I halved the recipe and used a can of plain cream of chicken soup and just added a 4 oz can of mild green chilies and a sprinkle of cumin, and lots of pepper. The flavor wasn't too strong, so I probably should have played with it a little longer to get it spicy. But I didn't. Blake's eating it for lunch today.

(I didn't take this photo, I found it to show what it kinda looks like)

Want to cook steak in your crockpot?

Want to cook a steak meal in your crockpot?

You can!

Layered Steak and Potatoes and Corn

- 1 ½ lbs rib eye steak

- 1 Tablespoon your favorite seasoning rub, like McCormicks anything

- 1 onion, sliced in rings

- ¼ cup chicken or beef broth

- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

- 2-4 potatoes (sweet or Idaho etc)

-2-4 ears of fresh corn

- Foil

Rub seasoning all over meat, put in crockpot. Top with onion rings. Add broth and Worcestershire sauce. Wash potatoes and wrap individually in foil, add on top of meat. Shuck corn, wrap each in foil. Add to pot. Cook on high 5-7 hours, or low 8 hours. You can put more or less of potatoes or corn, just whatever fits in your crockpot.

Christmas Pictures

I forgot to share Christmas pictures! But I need to get to work today, so you can view them at our website :) Just click this picture to go to our web album....

Cooking Lately

I have been slacking on creative cooking lately. Not that my cooking, as a rule, is ever all that creative or complicated. Eh, it works for us. I did make a meal plan for the next two weeks, but it's at home stuck to our fridge with a magnet. So I will just write what I did this past week and comment because I feel like talking about cooking for a little bit.
This week:
Monday: Hashbrown stirfry
Tuesday: pre-cooked Turkey Breast and mashed potatoes
Wednesday: Chicken soup and corn bread
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Beans & Rice, and leftovers
Saturday: homemade pizza

Monday: Everyone needs a "go-to" meal for when they want something yummy and fool-proof, but don't actually want to make anything hard. This is mine. Just go to your frozen foods aisle in the grocery store and pick up a bag of Ore-Ida diced hash browns with peppers and onions in it. Add 1 or 2 scrambled eggs and bacon-bits. Top your bowl with a slice of American Cheese and you're good to go.

Tuesday: My mom had brought me a turkey breast that was precooked and packaged. I warmed it up in the oven and made mashed potatoes from a quick packet where you just add water. The turkey was better the next day as cold leftovers in my lunch actually. I even have a picture!!! Please note my fabulous new lunch box courtesy of my husband for Christmas. It's a "Bentobox" I will note that corn in the prepackaged singles is gross. Don't buy it.

Apples, cheese, leftover turkey, corn!

Wednesday: This soup was actually pretty good. Blake commented that it was a good "sick soup".

Chicken Soup (the kind good for when you're sick )
2 cans Chicken Broth
2 cups shredded chicken (I used the leftover turkey I made the night before)
3/4 of a can of cream of celery soup
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
-Cook on stove top until warm, or in crockpot all day on Low like I did :) Next time I would add a can or two of some sort of vegetable. I felt bad about the lack of nutritional elements in this soup. But it did make me feel warm and fuzzy when I ate it.

Thursday: Spaghetti is also a go-to meal for us but I hadn't made it in a while. All I had was angel-hair pasta, which Blake loves, but I hate. To me it's so disappointing. You're ready for a big satisfying bite of pasta and then you get this dinky half-diameter string.

Friday: Beans & rice. Um, another go-to meal for us... Okay, here's the real reason I made so many go-to meals this week. Blake and I got fat over Christmas. So I'm trying to cook things with less ingredients and less calories. And less grocery store purchases. And we like beans, so there you have it.

Saturday: I've been buying "pizza blanks" at the store. Just premade, unfrozen, pizza crusts. Then I just brush the whole crust with olive oil and sprinkle garlic powder on it. I put frozen chicken fajita strips on it and top with mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven until crispy. Oh, and you can add bacon bits on it too :) It's kinda plain but we don't care. Yum.

Now I'm hungry for lunch.