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!!

Forgot the chicken in the sink when I went to work, so I had to throw it away! With no back up plan for dinner, I was forced to throw something together.

Sauted some shallots in olive oil and garlic salt, threw in some mushrooms, added some butter, let it cook for just a minute or two. Boiled some spaghetti noodles. Threw some sun dried tomatoes into the olive oil/butter/shallot/mushroom mix. Added some capers. Spashed in some white wine. Let it simmer for about five minutes. Threw everything together in a bowl and it was FABULOUS!! Hubby loved it and asked if I remember what I did. Feels good to actually throw something together on the fly and have someone say it was delicious!! Today was a very good day!!

Happy Eating!

Wow, summer is a tough time to cook. I had planned on making biscuits to go with last nights dinner and decided it was too darn hot to turn on the oven. Instead I made microwave mashed potatos.

I made a BBQ Stew. Hubby absolutely hates stewed meat, but loves BBQ so I thought I would give it a try. It was a so-so meal, according to him. To make the BBQ Stew I grabbed a pack of frozen beef stew meat that I had in the freezer - my brother gave us half of a beef so we have lots of beef in the freezer - put it in the crock pot and pourd BBQ sauce in with it. I use Sweet Baby Rays, but I am sure which ever one you prefer will work. I put the crock on high and after an hour or so I was able to break up the chunks. Cooked it for another four hours and it really turned out good. Super easy. I was going to make bisquit sandwhiches and ended up putting the mixture over microwave mashed potatos. I really like BBQ sauce on mashed potatos.

Happy Eating!

Today I made something totally from scratch! I had frozen, bone in chicken thighs in the freezer and put them in the crock pot. I then put in on 14 oz can of whole tomatoes, a half a jar of marinated artichoke hearts and all the juice, a wole onion peeled and quatered and four cloves of peeled garlic. I set that to cook on low for 9 hours and served it over jasmine rice. It was fantastic!!! I figured I would give my crock pot another chance after the Moo Shu Pork fiasco. So glad I did! It was an easy Sunday dinner that was absolutely satisfying!!

Happy Eating!!

Well, it has been a long time since I have created something new, but today I did. I made Pork & Mushroom Moo Shu in the crock pot http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Pork-Mushroom-Moo-Shu-Recipe

Not excited about this recipe. The best part about tonights dinner was the plum sauce (not part of the recipe, just something I put in at the last minute). Hubby said it tasted like stewed meat. I have to agree with him. We did not get overly full tonight and we have no left overs. We threw what was left away.

I am not giving up, still searcing for new recipes and hopefully I will find something fabulous to do with beef as I have a freezer full!!

Happy Eating!!