Italian Chicken Fettuccine

Okay, so let me just say. I began cooking this at 7:00pm and at 7:19 we were eating! I can not believe how fast this is. This is probably my favorite recipe that I have eaten in a long while. I loved everything about it! Tony, Macy, and I all had 2 helpings!  Without further ado...

Fettuccine noodles
2 cups fresh broccoli, stem removed
1 lb chicken breast strips
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs Italian dressing
1 small/medium red onion chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced (yes, I had garlic powder in the pic, but I ended up using 1 fresh clove)
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
shredded parmesan cheese

• Cook fettuccine according to package. When you place the noodles in the water, add the broccoli as well. Cook according to pasta directions and drain.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbs Italian dressing and a little evoo over medium high heat.  Cook chicken and red onion until chicken is done, about 5-7 minutes or so
• Add garlic, peppers, and 1/4 cup Italian dressing. Heat thoroughly for a few minutes.
• Add pasta and broccoli and combine well.
• Top with parmesan cheese just before serving

This recipe was absolutely amazing and delicious.

2 thumbs up!

Fried Apples

I wanted to share with you my fried apple recipe. This is in absolutely no way healthy and or low fat. :) I love these apples because I double heart sweet fried apples. :) Original recipe from allrecipes.com

1/4 cup butter

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla (I have mexican vanilla my fabulous MIL bought me and it is Divine!)

• melt butter over medium heat, add apples
• cook, stirring constantly, until almost tender...about 6-7 minutes
• Dissolve cornstarch in water, add brown sugar and cinnamon
• boil for 2 minutes, serve warm

These are delicious for a desert or for breakfast. :)

Chicken Lazone

I got this recipe from my friend, Meagan, a while ago. I wanted to try it. I mean...after all, she and her family raved about it! But, for some reason..I just kept putting it off. Until now. :) Chicken is one of my step daughter's favorite foods.  Honestly, you can't cook chicken but so many ways. Okay, you can, but I just don't. I thought I would try this since most everything (but the cream) I always have on hand. 

Saying this was a hit was an understatement. This took much less time than I thought. I actually had to heat my sweet hubby's up because I got done with dinner 30 minutes before he got home from work! Next time, I will make more of this yummy sauce to go on it as well. Definitely not the healthiest part of this recipe! lol. Recipe from food.com

1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts (I butterfly because I have an easier time cooking on the stove top)
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/2 cup heavy cream

• Place seasonings in large ziplock bag and toss with chicken to coat thoroughly
• In large saute pan melt half of the butter and cook chicken over medium heat for about 7 to 8 minutes, turning once.
• Pour the cream into the skillet and lower the heat.
• Simmer for several minutes, stirring until the sauce thickens then add the remaining butter.
• When butter is melted place chicken breasts on four plates and top with the sauce.

I served this with jasmine rice, steamed broccoli, and fried apples. Yummo!!

picture and original recipe from food.com

My spaghetti sauce

The spaghetti sauce I make is soooo easy. Yet, my husband absolutely loves it. Says it's the best ever. lol. He always wants me to make spaghetti when we have friends over. It's frugal, feeds plenty and yummy.  Spaghetti is my hubby's and my favorite meal. :) So here is how I make my spaghetti sauce. I do use a jar of store bought sauce in it. Hopefully, I can doctor it to use whole foods and healthier without losing the flavor my husband loves so dearly.

1 lb lean hamburger
1 lb ground sausage
1 jar Bertolli sauce any flavor (this is the ONLY kind that we like) I usually use the tomato and basil one
1 can diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, pressed
dash of dried oregano, basil, whatever you have on hand that sounds italian. :)
Salt & Pepper

Cook sausage and hamburger until done. I cook in the same skillet but I usually put the sausage in first because it takes a little longer to cook. Drain. Add onion, green pepper, and garlic. Let cook for a few minutes to soften green pepper and onion. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer for 20 minutes to an hour. The longer it simmers the more "old world' it tastes. Is that what I'm trying to say? It just gets yummy.

See how easy?!?! I never cook spaghetti without sausage.  If I don't have sausage, I don't cook spaghetti. It's as simple as that. We eat this a LOT in our house. It never gets old.  And since this makes more than enough for one meal. I freeze half and have another night!

Foodie Friday: Corn Casserole

Okay, so this casserole is so yummy. I'm sure most of you have had and/or made this casserole before. It is so easy and so yummy. However, as ever so popular this little ditty is, I have never made it until this week! It freezes extremely well. We had half for dinner and I threw the other half in the freezer for another night. :)  Great dish to take to potluck dinners. I didn't take pictures of it while I was making it. My kitchen was a disaster zone while I was making chicken stock and pintos. lol. Toooo embarrassing to post! lol. So I will find a picture online (google images is my friend) so you can see what the finished product looks like. :) This recipe is also so inexpensive to make and it is made with things that I always have on hand!

Corn Casserole

1 can corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
4 tbsp melted butter
3 slightly beaten eggs
8 oz sour cream
1 box Jiffy cornbread (cornmuffin) mix

Preheat oven to 400. Grease square baking dish with butter or pam. Mix all ingredients except Jiffy mix. Mix Jiffy in last. :) Pour into dish, bake uncovered for 40 minutes. I cook mine a few minutes longer. Make sure center doesn't jiggle and toothpick comes out clean. How appropriate is the "doesn't jiggle"? But you get my jist!

Anywho, you can see how easy this is to make! And so yummy!

Linked to Comfy in the Kitchen Friday's Favorites!

Meal Planning

I seem to go through spurts with my meal planning.  I will plan my meals consistently for several months and then the next few months, I will slack off.  I can tell a major difference in our budget when I don't plan my meals for the week.  We tend to "run out" to get something to eat rather than eating a healthier and cheaper meal at home. For instance, last week, I didn't meal plan. I don't like to really grocery shop unless I plan because I tend to spend double $. So, guess what, hubby and I ate out 4 nights. :( 4 NIGHTS! Not good.  We save so much money and tend to eat more wholesome meals when I cook at home.  Plus, cooking for my husband is one of my favorite ways to serve him. :) He loves to eat. <3 I thought I would share with you my strategy for meal planning and a sample menu (which happens to be this week's)  Every week may be different, the kids are into different activities, etc.  With little man coming soon, I really want to be able to effectively and time efficiently plan my meals so I am not scrounging around the kitchen trying to find something to cook! Once school starts and the girls are in dance two days a week, the crockpot becomes my best friend!

I have adopted the "cook once, eat twice...or more" strategy. This strategy is so simple, yet so filling! For example. This week I will buy a whole chicken and roast or boil it.  This gives me chicken for more than one meal for my family.  I can purchase a whole chicken for half the price of chicken breasts for 1-2 meals! If hubby requests something different, then I can shred the chicken, place it in a freezer bag with a little stock, and freeze it for another day. I like to do this with other things I cook as well. (as you will see this week) Aly, the oldest, is extremely picky.  So I know that she will not eat most of what I fix, but with each meal, I try to fix something she likes as well or I will modify hers. For instance, on chalupa night, I will fix her a quesadilla.  Macy, the youngest, will eat anything I put in front of her. Ha!

On my menu, you will see "or Salmon Cakes"  I always have pantry meals available should hubby want something totally different on a specific night, I run low on time, or I have failed to go to the grocery store for the next week. Pantry meals are meals that I have on hand at any given time in my pantry or freezer.  I also double and freeze a lot of my meals, so those are on hand as well.  On average, I keep our 3 favorite meals frozen in the freezer (chicken rotel, pizza casserole, and baked spaghetti), also ingredients to make potato soup, salmon cakes, and a few others.  It is great to have these handy for those days you are just "feeling something different".

Also, on Saturdays, my husband usually takes us out to eat, unless he has a particularly rough week at work and just wants to relax at home.  I look forward to these date nights. 99.9% of the time we eat out at our favorite local Mexican Restaurant.

Also, my menu strategy changes from week to week as well.  We have the girls every other week. So the weeks it is just Tony and I, I do not cook nearly as much.  For instance, we normally go out to eat on Wednesdays to eat chicken wings. :)

Here is my menu for this week: We have our "favorite" meals, so I tend to fix those at least twice a month. You will also notice, my dinners are cost effective.  Very important!

Monday: (grocery store day so I do not like to "cook") After going grocery shopping, I am "fooded" out! lol.
               We will have turkey, swiss, and mushroom paninis with ranch and cucumbers
Tuesday: Roast chicken, crock pot pintos and greenbeans
Wednesday: Chalupas (using pintos for refried beans) with lots of veggies on top
Thursday:  Chicken Fried Rice
Friday: Leftovers, or if I don't have leftovers, Salmon cakes with greenbeans and mashed potatoes
Saturday: Family date night or Chili (hubby's request)
Sunday: Dirtbike racing Sunday afternoon, so Chili if I don't fix it Saturday, or sandwiches. (I will freeze any
             leftover chili.

That's how it is done in the Deal house. :) Like I said, I slack sometimes, most of the time Especially this summer, I didn't plan at all. I just know how much money I save and how much happier hubby and I are when I do.  My goal is to eventually be able to do monthly planning rather than weekly planning. With our little bundle of joy coming in December, I really want to hold myself accountable with this area of my homemaking. :) Let me know if you want to start seeing some of my weekly meal plans and more recipes on here.

This post is linked to Time-Warp Wife!

Restaurant Style Salsa

Ok, I have to admit here, I am loving spicy lately. If you have read my Tummy Tracker updates, you have seen this! Ha! I also lurve Pioneer Woman and her recipes. This is her salsa recipe that I have wanted to try for some time, and I am so glad I did! I channeled my inner Ree with my picture taking! I love the salsa at our local mexican restaurant and always want to take a bottle home, but....I can't. Or...maybe.....nah! This is identical and EASY!

I pulled out my favorite cookbook.

And gathered ingredients.

I do not have a food processor, so I used my Ninja Master Prep Blender (which I LOVE) and made salsa in two batches.  The first batch was the whole tomatoes.  I pulsed them 3 times and it was the perfect consistency. Next I pulsed remainder of the ingredients and then stirred together.

Mix together and Kaboom! You have delish, yummy salsa that tastes JUST like what you get at the local mexican restaurant. Yummo! Refrigerate of a few hours to let flavors mix together well. :)

Restaurant Style Salsa by the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond:

1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes with juice

2 cans Rotel tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped onion (the absolute perfect amount)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 whole jalapeno quartered and sliced thin. If you like hot, use seeds and all

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup fresh cilantro (or more :)

1/2 whole lime juice (I used 1 Tablespoon bottled lime juice)

Combine all ingredients in food processor or in batches in blender. Pulse until you get desired consistency, taste...twice, or three times, and run and yell to your kids that this is the best salsa ever! Take a pic on your phone and text it to your husband to let him know what he's missing at home! Adjust flavors as needed. I thought the recipe was perfect as written!

Yummy, Yummy!

Macaroni Salad

Summer is not summer unless I make macaroni salad! I honestly can not wait to go to the beach. For some reason, eating a bowl of cold macaroni salad on the back porch at the beach just makes me happy!!! Ah, the salt air blowing through my hair, kids laughing, seagulls flying.  Back to reality, Sandy!! Thought I would take a million pictures (because I have nothing else to do! Ha!) and show you how I make my macaroni salad. Macy requested this for dinner tonight with baked beans and hotdogs. YUM!

Gather ingredients: Notice JFG mayonnaise.  Macy is somewhat of a mayonnaise connoisseur, and after taste testing EVERY mayonnaise, she has decided that JFG is by far the best and the ONLY one she will eat! Ha!  Use any veggies you like.  I went to the produce stand this morning and came home with these beauties!  If I make it for just Tony and I, I also like to add celery and cheese. :)

Wash Veggies. Had to put a plug in here, I lurve this veggie wash (Walmart)! When I use the remainder of this, I want to try to make my own and use this bottle. :)

Cook noodles according to package until al dente. Drain and Rinse in cold water.  Thus another picture. :)

Chop veggies!! I like TONS of veggies in my macaroni salad, but I like them chopped small.

Mix vinegar, sugar, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. Add in veggies and cooled, drained macaroni noodles. Taste test.....twice. Add more salt and pepper.

Refrigerate for several hours before serving. "Let the flavors marry :)"

This is just basic macaroni salad.  I don't like all of the fancy macaroni salads out there.  They are delish, but there's just something about a big bowl of creamy, yummy, southern macaroni salad that just makes my heart smile!

Macaroni Salad:

about 4 cups (uncooked) macaroni noodles, cooked al dente, drained and cooled
1/2 chopped red onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped cucumber
1 chopped tomato, I "seed" my tomato a little by scooping out the liquidy innards so salad won't be runny
Salt
Pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup or a little less vinegar, I like apple cider vinegar just because I love the taste
1/2 cup more or less white sugar, according to your taste (I like a little less, maybe 1/4 cup?, I don't measure)
2 Tablespoons mustard

While macaroni cools, mix together in a large bowl, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper.  Add veggies and macaroni.

Refrigerate until ready to serve, stir before serving.

I can NOT wait for supper time. :)

Gluten Free Protein Pancake

On my quest to eat a more healthy nutritious diet, I came across this recipe on www.toneitup.com. I am loving Katrina and Karena's workouts, whole food recipes, and overall adorableness! This is a staple breakfast recipe in their diet and has now become one of mine. I keep dry ingredients together in baggies so all I have to do is mix in the wet ingredients and I have a nutritious breakfast!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup egg whites
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (organic whey - I got from Fresh market)
2 tbs vanilla almond milk or skim
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs ground flaxseed
After above ingredients are mixed together add 1/2 banana (mashed)- mash first, then add!!
Add a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries
Pour into a pan that has been sprayed with olive oil cooking spray ~ heat on medium. Cook one side until you see the little bubbles.. just like cooking any pancake! Flip over (careful!) and cook on the other size until the middle is done (peek inside with a fork).

Top with two sliced strawberries and optional powdered stevia. This is so yummy! If I make it without blueberries, it tastes just like banana nut bread. And who doesn't love banana nut bread?!

Mushroom Rice Casserole

My cousin Tara used to make this when I was growing up and it was definitely one of my all time favorite dishes. I call it mushroom rice casserole because, well, I don't know it's proper name. And it combines two of my favorite foods..mushrooms. and. rice. Sooooo this is mushroom rice casserole. It is so yummo, I could eat the entire dish.

1 cup long grain rice (I am a slacker and I use two bags of boil in the bag rice)
1 can french onion soup
1 can beef broth
1 can sliced mushrooms (I am not a slacker and I like to sauté 1 package of fresh mushrooms in butter)
1/4 cup butter (if I sauté the mushrooms, I omit this)

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all ingredients in and 8 X 8 casserole dish, cover and bake 45-60 minutes.

This is delicious!

Pulled BBQ

I found this recipe on this blog, and I have to say it will definately be a staple on my menu. It is easy, it's a crock pot meal, and oh so yummoooo! Thank you Bate's family for sharing. I also adapted their version slightly to what I had on hand.

Pulled BBQ

Meat:
3-4 lb. Boston butt shoulder roast
3 onions roughly chopped
2 minced garlic cloves

Rub:
4 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Mixture (combine the following):
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tsp. Worcestershire sause
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. Stubbs Liquid Smoke

Apply rub on roast. Place in crockpot with onions and garlic. Pour 1/2 of the mixture over roast.

Cook on LOW for 10-12 hours or HIGH 5-6 hours.(this is what I did) take meat out and shred it. Add remaining sauce.

We enjoyed them on wheat rolls. We ate them up so quickly, I didn't get a picture of the sandwich. My husband absolutely loved it. We will definately make this again and again!

Pepper Popper Dip

This dip is such a hit! My good friend Tiffany made this and I had to get the recipe. If you like jalapeno poppers, you will love this. It's so easy to make and so yummy! It has just the right amount of heat.


16 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup mayonaise
4 oz can diced green chilies
4 oz can diced jalapenos, drained
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cream cheese, mayo and peppers. Pour mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and brown. Serve with tortilla chips.