Cookbooks, Anyone?

The move is upon us!  And we found a house today!  When it is a sure deal, I'll share more info so you'll be as excited as I am.

Anyways, I am going through things and sorted stuff out.  I have a plethora of cookbooks.  I found two that I don't really use, so I have a deal for you.  The first person who contacts me via email (there's a link on my profile page) and agrees to pay the shipping for them can have them.  If you only want one, that's cool too.  Just tell me which you want.

Up for grabs are:

and

images from Amazon.com

They are both in new condition.  They need good homes.  Adopt the cookbooks :)

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

As I've mentioned before, we are coming up on a move.  The lovely part of moving is that I have to empty out my cabinets.  Sometimes, the movers will pack some food items, but I really don't like to for a few reasons.  Moving is a good excuse to use up everything and start with new stuff.  I also don't like the idea that our stuff will be in storage for an unknown amount of time and any number of multi-legged critters could be attracted to our boxes if they have food in them.  Anyways, in my attempts to get rid of everything, I start making random things with whatever I have.  The other day, I decided to try some Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcakes.  I'd seen recipes for them before, so I googled it and went from there.  Here's what I came up with:

Cupcakes

2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your pans for 24 cupcakes.  In large bowl, beat together sugar, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla until blended.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and beat until it starts to come together.  Then add the boiling water very slowly.  Mix until smooth.  (The mixture will be thin, so don't freak out)  Scoop into pans (do not, I repeat, do not fill the cups more than 3/4 full).  Bake 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack until cupcakes are cool.  Then frost...

Frosting

**I didn't have much powdered sugar, so this recipe doesn't make much...it's just enough to put a fairly thin layer on 24 cupcakes.  If you like mounds of frosting on your cupcakes, just double this and you should be fine.

1 stick butter at room temp.
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Beat butter until creamy.  Stir milk and vanilla together in a measuring cup.  In a bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and cinnamon.  Starting and ending with the powdered sugar mixture, alternatively beat the powdered sugar and milk mixtures into the butter.

Yeah, Yeah, I'm a Little Behind

I have been a very bad blogger the last week.  I'm very sorry.  I would like to say that I'll be better, but with the move coming up I just can't promise that.  I will, however, try :)

So, I know you're all expecting some randomness, because it's Tuesday and that's what we do around here on Tuesdays, so here it is...

 

**I got myself an iPhone...oh yeah...it rocks!

**Apparently, oldest kiddo will now be riding the same bus as middle kiddo...found this out today when oldest kiddo didn't get off the normal bus and hubby called the school looking for him...I couldn't call because it's hard to speak coherently when you are hyperventilating.

**Baby girl is starting to take more little steps on her own.  She would still rather crawl though.

**Oldest kiddo is going to be 8 on Friday!!

**We are officially on Transportation's list to get moved later this month.  I'm glad that's scheduled.

**I'm reading a book called Taking Sides: Religion for a course I'm taking this semester.  It is really interesting.  Controversial issues are argued in "Yes" and "No" essays.

**Currently, I need a good 4-5 quiet hours to catch up on my school work...yeah right, there are no quiet hours around here.

**I made some cupcakes today...Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcakes...OMG they are fab!  Recipe coming soon.

Well, dinner is about to burn and the kids are losing their danged minds (neither of those things are new around here...), so enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!!

Yummy Yummy Cupcakes

Have you visited Java Cupcake?  If not, you totally should.  She has great recipes.  And who doesn't love cupcakes?!  This weekend I made some cookies-n-creme cupcakes using her recipe.  They turned out awesome!  The kiddos loved them and hubby ate about six of them in one night.  Yeah, he was a little hyper!  The recipe was really easy to follow.  The cake part was moist and delicious.  The frosting was AMAZING!  Seriously, you must try these out.  An added bonus is that you have to crush up the Oreos so you can get rid of any frustrations by beating them with a rolling pin.  I was able to make 36 cupcakes from this recipe...however, 6 of them met an untimely end when I dropped them taking them out of the oven...

Here are some pictures I managed to take before the kiddos and hubby devoured these scrumptious cupcakes...

Don't be laughing at my awesome icing skills...

I was supposed to decorate the cupcakes with some crushed Oreos, but I kind of ate too many of them to do that.  I also thought that sticking a mini Oreo on top would be cute, but we didn't have any of those.  I'm planning on making these again sometime, so maybe next time I'll do that.

Now, wipe the drool off your chin and go visit Java Cupcake for lots of other recipes and general cupcake fun!

Just so you know, I received nothing for writing this.  I simply came across this blog a while back, decided to try out one of her recipes and loved it so much that I thought it would be plain ol' mean of me if I didn't share :)

Serving Up the Randomness

If you haven't been here for RTT, I basically throw out a bunch of random thoughts for your reading pleasure...

**I love the sitcomes on CBS on Monday nights.  Big Bang Theory cracks me up.  Who doesn't love nerds?!

**Remember the nerds on Saved By the Bell?  Did your school have nerds that looked like that?  Mine didn't.  We had nerds, but they didn't dress quite that nerdy.

**It snowed some more last night and today.  Surprise, surprise.  The kiddos got a snow day and are gonna get another one tomorrow.

**I'd love to have 100 followers of my little blog here.  I know that's not really that many, but it woud make my day month year.

**I've been working on a cake recipe.  It's almost there and quite yummy.  I'll share it when I'm happy with it.

**Ever notice how people who gripe about the government and taxes and all that never seem to gripe when they get a tax refund.  Suddenly, they're all happy to claim Uncle Sam as their own. 

**Remember back in the day when you had to blow on the video game cartiridge to get it to work.  I kind of miss that.  My dad actually still has his Nintendo from back in the day.  It still works.  Every once in a while we all play Mario Bros (not super, just the plain ol' version) and Duck Hunt.

**I made myself a cheese pizza for dinner and it was so good that I ate too much.  Oh well.

**Baby girl says "Dada", "Bubba" and "puppy" but not "Mama".  I wish she'd just say it already.  I think she's just messing with me.

And that's the randomness for this week.  Hope everyone had a great Tuesday!

Hip Hip Hooray for RTT

I love Random Tuesday Thoughts! Let's just get ride to it...

**Where does ABC find all those crazy families for Wife Swap? And exactly why do the families throw such a fit over the rules change? Don't they understand the concept of the show?!

**I turned in my essay on Blake today. I feel about a million pounds lighter.

**It's raining, yuck.

**Last night's dinner was a disaster. I tried a new recipe. It would've been good if it had been cooked for about half the time. We went to Wendy's.

**Speaking of Wendy's...I have been saying for years that some place should put chicken sandwiches in the kids meals. Finally, Wendy's is doing that! My kids were ecstatic!

**I cut my finger last night. I have no idea on what.

**I have a professor who drinks about a pot of coffee before class, then bounces around the whole class period. It kind of reminds me of my kids.

**There was this really pretty yellow envelop in my mailbox today. I got all excited that someone had sent me a card. Turns out that it's my neighbors mail. Dang mailman!

**I am totally unmotivated to do any housework lately. Thank goodness the hubby isn't opposed to picking up my slack.

**My mom bought my oldest kiddo 3 chapter books on Saturday. He finished all 3 of them by Sunday afternoon. I love my little bookworm.

**My middle kiddo has the smile of a future heartbreaker. I'm not looking forward to his teen years.

**My precious baby girl is pulling up and scooting around the couch. She'll be walking sooner than I care to admit.

Hope you have a fabulous Tuesday. If you want some more randomness, head on over to the originator of RTT, the unmom.

Midterm Sucks

This past week has been draining. Midterm just sucks the life out of you. I wrote two papers and took two midterms this week. (I didn't sleep much.) Anyways, enough with my excuses. In order to make up for my extended absence this week, I am finally giving you that recipe that I promised here and here.

Creamy Mexican Chicken and Rice in the Crock Pot

3-4 chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut in half or thirds (depending on the size)
1 can rotele
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup Minute rice

Place the chicken pieces in a gallon size bag and add the rotele. Marinate in the fridge overnight. (You can skip this, but you will lose out on a little flavor.)

Add the soups and rice to the crock pot. Then add the chicken and rotele. Give it a quick stir to cover the chicken and stir in the rotele. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Yep, it's that simple! Hope you and your family enjoy it!

Smells Like Olive Garden

A few years back, the Express Lane Meals cookbook by Rachael Ray was published. At the time, I was a total 30-Minute Meals junkie so I went right out and bought it. In the book, I found the most yummy smelling recipe ever...and it doesn't taste half bad either! The hubby loves this with some pork chops or grilled chicken. I think it was meant to be a main dish, but there is no where near enough meat in it to be a main dish in our house. Anyhoo...it makes the house smell like Olive Garden and I feel like an honest to goodness gourmet chef whenever I whip this pasta up. Give it a try someday and you'll see...

Here's the recipe, with my own modifications...for the original, check out Rachael's cookbook...

******************
Drunken Tuscan Pasta (come on, you HAVE to try something with a title like that!)

1 bottle (or whatever you have left over) red wine...one that you like
salt
1 pound spaghetti
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 slices bacon, chopped
3 portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced
1 to 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
4 garlic cloves, minced
red pepper flakes
4-5 cups spinach (I use baby spinach to avoid chopping, I'm lazy)
black pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Parm. Cheese

Pour wine into large pot, then add enough water to bring liquid up to where you normally would to cook pasta. Bring to a boil. When it boils, add salt and pasta. (FYI: You will need to ladle out a little of the cooking liquid for the sauce before draining the pasta.)

Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat, then add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the chopped bacon and brown. Then transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Add mushroom to the skillet, season with rosemary and cook 6-8 minutes until they are deeply golden. Push mushrooms to sides of skillet and add remaining olive oil to center of skillet. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for a minute or so, then toss together with mushrooms. Add spinach to pan and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. When spinach has wilted, add a couple ladles of pasta cooking liquid to the pan and cook for a minute to reduce.

Drain pasta and add to skillet. Add bacon and cheese to the pan. Toss pasta and allow to absorb the remaining liquid.

*******************

The Day After Monday

Oh yeah, it is Tuesday again! That means that it is officially time for another installment of Random Thoughts Tuesday...

**The boys' room is STILL clean! I am amazed and very proud.

**As I get older, I have realized that having stuff isn't all that great. You have to clean stuff and I'm sick of cleaning!

**It is perfectly normal for breast milk to have a blue tint to it. It is also perfectly normal for breastfed babies to have green poop or no poop at all for days at a time.

**I haven't mentioned my crock pot in a while, so a big shout out to my crock pot!

**I still haven't figured out what I did to piss of the tomato plant gods, but they seem to still be pissed. Last night, the puppy chewed the roots off of one plant. Nice, huh?!

**My kids never find it necessary to speak to me unless I am on the phone or trying to have a conversation with another adult type person.

**The speed limit on our street is 15 MPH. Apparently, most people are taking that as a suggestion because it is a rare occasion when someone actually obeys it. Obeying the speed limit on our street will get you rear-ended or, at the very least, some really nasty looks from people. I say bring it on, I've got good insurance!

**I miss the dry heat of El Paso!

**Oldest kiddo needs a button sewn on to a pair of shorts. I have been moving the shorts around the house for a week now trying to find a spot that I will remember to sew on the button. Right now, the shorts are sitting on the end table in the living room.

**Tomorrow I'm going to post another summer pie recipe!

**I am so sad that Jon & Kate can't seem to make it work! I was so hoping that last night's announcement was going to be that they had decided to cancel their show and work on their marriage in private. Plus who else noticed that Kate seemed to be distraught over the break-up while Jon actually said that he was excited! What a jackass! I'm totally Team Kate on this one.

Okie dokie, hope you enjoyed today's randomness! Have a fabulous Tuesday! And for more randomness, check out the originator of RTT over at The Un Mom.

Pie!

As I mentioned in last week's RTT, I love summer pies! To me, a summer pie is one that has light, fluffy ingredients and is cool and refreshing. I've had pies on the mind. I have a couple of recipes that I love. They are super easy to make. So, I figured if I was going to be talking about pie, I should probably share a recipe.

Easy Margarita Pie
(got this a few years ago from the Jello display at the store)

2/3 cup boiling water
1 pkg (4 serving size) Margarita Flavor Jello
Ice
1/2 cup cold water
8 0z tub Cool Whip
1 Graham Cracker Crust

Stir boiling water into dry Jello mix in a large bowl until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to cold water to measure 1 cup. Add to Jello and stir until slightly thickened. Add cool whip. Stir with whisk until well-blended. Refrigerate 15-20 minutes or until mixture is very thick and will mound. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate at leasta 4 hours before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can use any flavor of Jello you have on hand. It is fantastic and a crowd pleaser on a hot summer day. Enjoy!

Randomness and Stuff

Yay, it's Tuesday again! In celebration of that, here is some randomness...

**Today is my 8 year wedding anniversary...I got the hubby nothing...He doesn't need anything and we don't need more crap in this house.

**I hate how my puppy barks at stupid stuff. She's got that obnoxious little dog yip and it pisses me off every time I hear it. I know, my own fault for having a little dog.

**Note to self: don't forget to let the neighbor's cat out.

**Julia Roberts really doesn't look like Erin Brockovich at all.

**I love making summer pies with cool whip and other yummy ingredients. They are cool and cheap.

**Getting ready to go pick up the pictures for my dad's father's day gift....it is awesomely cute!

**I finally got my baby girl an appointment for her 2 month check-up. I can't believe she's 2 months already!! Time flies when you are sleep deprived.

**I'm taking a load of stuff to Goodwill and might do some shopping while there...does that defeat the purpose?

**Pretty sure that I have decided to get rid of the Blackberry and return to a normal phone.

And that wraps up Random Thoughts Tuesday. I'm off to enjoy my anniversary! Have a wonderful day!!

Randomness All Around

Hurray for Tuesday! Over the last few weeks, I have found myself looking forward to RTT because I have an actual excuse to be completely random. Here goes the randomness for today:

**My poor baby girl has a bit of a cold and I hate it. I have to use that little nose-sucker-thingy on her and it makes me feel horrible.

**Free lunch for kiddos during the summer is awesome!

**Need to get the oil changed in my Jeep but refuse to wait for hours in order to do so.

**I am a very curious person. This curiosity extends into everything from the academic world right down to what you are doing in your life. I can't help it.

**Right now I'm thinking of starting another blog all about being cheap (in the best possible way, of course).

**Martha is making cupcakes and it is making me super hungry but I got this new evil scale yesterday and I'm sure it won't appreciate me having a cupcake.

**Gave oldest kid a summer project...use our old digital camera and photograph whatever strikes his fancy...yesterday was day one of said project and he took over 50 pics.

**Neighbors went on a cruise this week....color me jealous.

**What the heck is a bakugan? My kids are obsessed with this things.

**This episode of Martha makes me want to open my own bakery, but I'm too realistic to actually do something like that.

**I should be cleaning my house...maybe I'll just get rid of everything and then I won't have to clean.

**I found out late last week that the doctor who delivered my daughter a couple months ago is actually a cosmetic surgeon who happens to have some specialization in gynecology...hmm, interesting combo...

So there's today's installment of randomness, Enjoy :)

The Sun is Shining!!

Woo Hoo! The sun is shining! In celebration of this fabulous (yet, of late, very rare) occurrence, I decided to make a list of other things that make me happy...

--My kiddos! They crack me up everyday and keep me from taking life too seriously.

--My hubby! (Get your mind outta the gutter...) He lets me do whatever I want (aka doesn't complain about my shopping habits) and even cooks dinner on occasion.

--Books...one can never own too many, nor can one ever read too many.

--Cooking...it is so relaxing and is a great creative outlet. I love spicing up old favorites and discovering new recipes for the fam.

--My crock pot! Ok, it probably really goes with cooking, but I love it soo much that I'm making it a separate item on the list.

--Whatever, Martha! Love, love, love this show! How can you not love it?!

--Coupons...OMG, I cannot even begin to explain how much I love a good coupon! Is there any better feeling than whipping out that dollar-off coupon or checking your commissary receipt for how much you saved?!

--Patio plants...I just love growing tomatoes, peppers and other veggies in little pots all around the lanai. Seriously, I would cover it completely with plants but my kids' bikes and the plants seem to be mortal enemies.

--School...Really! I love learning new things. The hubby is actually a bit afraid that I'm going to become a professional student and never get a real paying job.

I have so many things that make me happy that I could just gone on and on forever but I'll stop there. Hope you all have a wonderful day and get some sunshine too!

I'll Have the Chipper Chicken

One of my all-time favorite movies is Father of the Bride. I especially love when they are discussing the menu and George says they are going to have the "chipper chicken." Anyhoo, enough about my extraordinarily odd ability to remember and quote pretty much any line from any movie I've ever seen. (Too bad that talent doesn't translate into a highly paid job...) Chicken really is pretty cheap, though, and you can make sooo many different meals with it. One of our recent favorite chicken meals is Cheesy Chicken and Veggie Mac. I found the basic recipe over on the Kraft website in their 1 bag, 5 meals section (which is fantastic, by the way). The first time I made it I followed the recipe. Once the meal received a stamp of approval from my boys, I made it again and personalized it a little bit. Here's what I came up with:

1 lb. chicken tenders
1/4 cup Italian dressing
1 box mac-n-cheese
1 bag (10 oz.) frozen broccoli, cauliflower & carrots
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Using your preferred method, cook the chicken. (I usually poach the chicken in a pot of boiling water.) Cut into bite-size pieces and toss with the dressing. You can do this when you are preparing the meal or ahead of time and store in the fridge.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and frozen veggies. While this is cooking, reheat your chicken in a skillet. When the macaroni is done, drain and add the cheese sauce according to the instructions on the box. Add the garlic powder and chicken.

This makes enough for my two little boys and the hubby with just a little leftover, so if you are serving more than 4 people you should probably double the recipe. This is a super easy and quick recipe that only costs less than $5 to make! Can't beat that!

Falling Behind

I know, I know...I have been a horrible blogger this past week. I do not have a really good excuse for this...I have five :)

1. I am nearly 38 weeks pregnant and have been busy taking a nap.

2. We have a new puppy which is basically like having a newborn and requires a lot of time.

3. It's March Madness, baby! Have you filled out your bracket?! So much basketball, so little time...

4. These fabulous 1 Bag, 5 Dinner menus over at the Kraft website have been distracting me with their fantastically easy recipes and the lure of very little time spent in the grocery store...not to mention the cheap factor, which, let's face it, is a major draw these days.

5. I recently became obsessed with cleaning my house from top to bottom...some call it nesting, and I would agree if I thought this baby has any plans of actually leaving her current locale but as I believe that she is going to stay in there forever then I'm calling it spring cleaning :)

Oh, by the way...HAPPY SPRING!!

A Family Favorite

Many moons ago, my hubby went on his first training exercise with the Army. It took him to Thailand for about a month and left me alone in a new place (Hawaii, so I didn't complain too much) with a newborn. Needless to say, I was super excited for him to return home. I decided to cook him a special dinner to welcome him home. I remember calling my mom a couple of days before he was set to arrive to get the recipe for an old family favorite. At the time, I was not much of a cook and needed something easy to make. Well, the dinner turned out great (probably the first successful meal I'd ever made him) and to this day it is my fall back meal. Anytime that I am at a loss, I just throw this together and I've yet to receive a complaint out of him. In fact, it's what's for dinner tonight :) So, I thought that since it has been a while since I shared a recipe that I'd share this one. Hope you enjoy it!

Mexican Chicken

1 lb. cooked, cubed chicken
1 bag crushed doritos (any flavor, but we prefer Ranch)
8 oz. shredded cheese (again, any flavor, but I use one of the Mexican blends)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can rotele (drain about half the liquid....and you can use any variety, I use regular as the others are too hot for the kiddos)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 13x9 baking dish, make a thin layer of crushed doritos (maybe 1/4 of the bag). Then spread the cubed chicken evenly over the chips. In a bowl, mix the soups and the rotele. Spread over the chicken. Then spread most of the rest of the doritos evenly over the top (I always save a few to eat, but that's just me...) Cover with the cheese. Bake until heated through and the cheese is melted.

The hubby's favorite part is the crust created by the chips and the cheese :)

Pork Chops (but no applesauce)

My internet is still being flaky so I wasn't able to post this yesterday. Oh well, at least I can get it posted now :)

My kiddos are not super picky eaters, but they have their moments. One food that I can pretty much count on them always eating is pork chops. However, I had run out of ideas for how to prepare them. The other day I was reading one of my cookbooks, Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons, and found a really fabulous recipe for Barbecue-Style Pork Chops. It seemed a little bland for our family's taste so I added a few things, adjusted a few things, and the boys (including the hubby) loved them. The best part of this recipe find is that the sauce is great for more than just chops. I made ribs on Sunday and used this sauce. I think I may try it out in the crock pot on a roast too. Sooo, what are the details of this fab new recipe, you ask? Well, here you go:

14.5 oz crushed tomatoes (original recipe calls for whole tomatoes crushed, but these work better)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients.

If making pork chops, brown center-cut chops in some oil then place in a 13x9 dish. Pour sauce on top and bake for about 45 minutes 350 degrees.

If making ribs, place ribs in a dish, cover and bake at 250 degrees for an hour. Then pour sauce over top of ribs and bake for another 30-45 minutes.

Like I said, I haven't tried it on a roast in my crock pot yet, but I'll update you when I do.

Enjoy!

Starch-less Potatoes

As I wrote my blog yesterday, I nearly forgot to include the potatoes in the recipe. When I realized my mistake, I fixed it and that got me to thinking about this dream I had last week. Before I share the dream, there are a few bits of background info you have to have:

1. My mother is a little nutty when it comes to food. She once made mashed celery root as an alternative to mashed potatoes because potatoes are starchy. She buys $6 applesauce because it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in it and she's been known to make spinach brownies. All of this is only the tip of the iceberg.

2. I make weekly dinner menus for our family. (It makes grocery shopping easier in addition to actually making the meals. There's never a night when I go "Hmmm, what are we going to eat tonight?") Generally, potatoes are on the menu probably 4 nights every week. What?! We're a potato-lovin' family!

Ok, so here's the dream: My parental units came up to visit us. I had made the menu for the week and decided that it was a good idea to let my mom go along to the grocery store. I didn't have potatoes on my list because I already had some at home. We went through the store and had managed to get everything on the list without me losing mom in the store once (a MAJOR accomplishment, trust me). We were walking to the check-out and passed the produce department where my mom stops and announces that I have forgotten to get potatoes. "No mom," I say, "I have potatoes at home." She stomps her foot, looks at me like I've lost my mind and proceeds to inform me that the potatoes I have at home have starch in them and she will not allow me to feed her grandchildren such a horrible thing. She then tells me that I have to buy the starch-free potatoes. Then I woke up.

Ever since I had this dream, I've been a bit irritated that I woke up when I did, though. I wonder, did my mom actually find starch-free potatoes in the Wal-Mart in backwoods Kentucky?! If she did, I'm quite impressed because I can't even find regular potatoes that haven't begun to sprout eyes in that place!

Yes, I Can Cook

I am the world's pickiest eater. Seriously! I won't touch 99% of the food known to man. I have my reasons varying from the odd textures of things to the horrid smell wafting from the foods to the fact that I just don't like it. Couple this with the fact that my mom didn't cook a lot when I was growing up and it is a miracle that I can even find a kitchen let alone cook. While I didn't receive a lot of instruction on cooking, I was taught the basics of baking by my great-grandmother and then by my granny. At one of my bridal showers a gazillion years ago, someone gave me a cookbook as a gift. You know, the red and white one that every home is apparently required to have (at least in the south). It is probably the most practical gift I received during all those showers. Anyhoo, I figured that I knew how to read so I could probably figure out the whole cooking thing with that skill and the cookbook. Well, it took a few years to figure out the real secret but since I learned it I have been a regular Food Network-quality cooking superstar (at least in my own mind). The secret I figured out is that pretty much any recipe you encounter is a starting point. Absolutely no where in the universe is there a rule that says you must adhere completely to any given recipe. Take the recipe and make it your own. For example, the recipe calls for cream of mushroom soup but you can't stand mushrooms. Well, change it. Use cream of chicken or celery instead. If it doesn't turn out well, oh well. It isn't the end of the world.

Now, no blog about my enthusiam for cooking would be complete without mention of my crock pot. (You knew it was coming!) What got my thinking about all of this stuff to start with was a stew I make in my crock pot pretty often. It started off as a basic recipe from my cookbook and I have tweaked it a bit to make it my own. (Of course, I don't eat it but the boys and Martin love it.) And of course, I'm gonna share it with you :)

Meatball and Veggie Stew

16-18 oz pkg frozen meatballs
10 oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables
3 medium potatoes, diced
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
12 oz jar mushroom or beef gravy
1/2 cup water

Place meatballs, potatoes and veggies in crockpot. Mix remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Pour over meatballs, potatoes and veggies. Cover and cook for 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high.

And there you have it. Another creation from my beloved crock pot.