I have two things to blog about! Tonight I made Cheddar Ranch Burgers that were absolutely DELICIOUS and super easy to make. I took one pound of ground beef out of the freezer (we get half a beef every year from my brother so we are stocked up on beef), put it into a ziploc bag and put it in the fridge to defrost yesterday morning. Today when I got home from work, I unwrapped the meat, put it back in the ziploc bag, added one packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix, zipped the bag back up and kneaded it all together. I then broke it up into four equal size portions. I took some mild cheddar cheese slices, folded them into fourths and put it in the middle of each 1/4 pound patty I made. Got my grill pan nice and hot, grilled each patty for about 5 minutes on each side while I preheated the oven to 350. Once I finished grilling, I put the grill pan in the oven for about 8 minutes. When that was done, we sliced some tomato and put a slice of tomato with a patty on a bun and it was soooo good!

I told hubby I had to blog about it and he asked if I had blogged about my Mexican chicken and rice. Well I hadn't so here it is. I had frozen legs and thighs, so I took out two thighs and four legs. Let them defrost and seasoned them with Adobo (one of my new favorite spices). Browned the chicken in a sauted pan in olive oil. Then added teaspoon of minced garlic, teaspoon of minced shallots and about 1/2 cup of Sofrito paste. I then added about 1 cup of chicken stock and let it simmer on low for about 45 minutes. I had some boil-in-bag Uncle Ben's white rice and made two bags of that. Put the rice into a serving dish and spooned the chicken and sauce over the rice. It was obviously a hit because hubby asked if I had blogged about it.

The more successes I have, the higher my confidence level gets. This cooking thing is very exciting.

Happy Eating!!

Pretty impressed with myself! I made Chicken with Jazmine rice and shitake mushrooms. Super simple and very tasty. I had boneless skinless chicken thighs in the freezer and this morning I had the sense to take 4 out for dinner, when I got home I salted the chicken and browned in in a deep skillet in olive oil. Once it was browned, I added a teaspoon of crushed garlic, a teaspoon of chopped shallots, a squirt of Lemon Grass spice blend and a squirt of Ginger herb mix (both from Gourmet Garden, in tubes in the produce section at the grocery store). Let that simmer for a bit then added about cup and a half of chicken broth, simmered a little longer. Had dried shitake mushrooms (bought big bag at Costco almost a year ago and finally got to the end), rinsed them while everything was simmering. Measured out cup and a half of Jazmine rice. Added rice, mushrooms, a sprinkle of Asian seasoning and cup and a half of water to the chicken mixture, turned stove down to low, let it simmer for about 20 minutes and oh my Cheezits!! Delicious!!

Happy Eating!

Did not cook tonight, but I did cook last night. I made delicious sirloin tip steaks and garlic mashed potatoes. No recipe, I just winged it! Seasoned the steaks with salt and pepper and seared them in the grill pan, then finished them in the oven. The mashed potatoes were a total cheat. Took a microwave baby reds product, put about 1/2 teaspoon of roasted garlic in it before I cooked it and added about 2 tablespoons of butter after cooking. It was delicious. I must say, my confidence in cooking has improved a great deal.

Happy Eating!!

Oh my cheezits! It has been almost one month since I have done any cooking! We have been very busy moving the Golden Girls (Gramma, Aunt Carol, and Cathy) to Visalia. They are finally all moved in and settled so our lives should be getting back to normal.

Yesterday I took a rump roast out of the freezer. I will be making Oven Baked Rump Roast http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1927,147169-239194,00.html It is already marinating in the fridge. It is supposed to marinate overnight, so I may not be cooking it tonight. I do have a back up plan. Hubby took some Italian sausage out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost. I wonder if he has noticed I haven't cooked anything since August 19th? I am guessing this was his way of saying "get something out of that freezer and cook it!" :-}

Happy Eating!!