Philly Cooking Cream - Pretty Tasty!

Tonight's dinner was baby bow tie pasta with chicken, grape tomatoes and Italian cheese sauce. It was pretty tasty! I used a box of pasta, I chose bow tie cause that's what I had. I had picked up something new at the store this week; Philly Cooking Cream. I had coupons so I figured, hey why not. I cooked the pasta, then sauteed the chicken. Added the pasta and grape tomatoes and warmed through. Then I added the philly (used the Italian Cheeses variety). It was really good. The cheese was not really a "sauce" and next time I will likely add some cream or milk because it was a little two thick. I will also get sundried tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes. I really don't like cooked tomatoes all that much but for some reason I thought I would this time! We added a simple salad with red wine vinaigrette dressing. All in all it was pretty good and I'll be making it again with a few variations. It was quick and easy, which is what I need on work nights since we don't get home until almost 6!

Even Logan tasted it and thought it was pretty good. He only ate two bites though.

applesauce!

So, tonight I tried something new. I have been in the mood to make a cake for a while now. I bought my cake mix (yeah, yeah...cake mix - hey, I'm in a hurry on the weeknights!) and then as I'm pouring the mix in the bowl and adding my eggs and water I realize that I have no oil! OH NO! First thought...can I use olive oil? I have olive oil! But...even I knew that would NOT make a cake that would be anywhere near edible. As I contemplated pouring my mix in the trash I remembered something I heard somewhere about using applesauce in place of the oil in cakes and brownies. I decided to give it a try. I hopped online and visited my friend Google to see if was equal measure to the oil and in fact it was. So, I whipped up the cake and viola! 30 minutes later I had a beautiful french vanilla cake with whipped vanilla icing. Well, ok so it cooked in 30 minutes, then I had to let it cool, but you get the idea! This cake is pretty darn good! I am surprised that I can't tell the difference. Everything I read online said you wouldn't notice, but I'm pessimistic when you go messing with my food. ;) But, honestly...you REALLY can't tell a difference. I will likely use applesauce from here on out in my baking. Why not just be a little healthier, right? Yes Mom, I've heard you! :)

My tip for the day: An apple a day keeps the doctor away! ;)

Making the most of what you have...

Ok, so tonight's meal is brought to you by WIC! haha...Money has been extremely tight for us these past few weeks. Since I just went back to work, I haven't gotten a paycheck yet. But, thankfully we are on WIC and I was able to pull this whole meal together with things I get from my checks (with exception of the chicken, which I happened to already have in my freezer).

So, we were at Walmart picking up some of the stuff for the month from WIC. Normally, I would have gone with the bread option for my grains, but I knew I needed to pick up something to cook for dinner with the chicken I had pulled out. So, we decided to try the brown rice instead. I haven't ever cooked with brown rice, so I opted for the instant boil in bag variety. So...the finished meal you see here is the result of sauteeing 2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts in olive oil with onion and garlic and Mrs. Dash seasoning. Then I added in frozen peas, carrots and corn that I had cooked til almost done in the microwave. Tossed it all together and added some worscheshire and a dash or two of soy sauce and voila! It was pretty tasty. The brown rice made me feel very healthy too! ;) I do have to give a nod to Jeromy as he helped with the spicing (as he usually does when I ask him to taste and "fix it" lots of times!)

I must say that I usually don't attempt a throw together kind of meal. I actually envy this most about my mom's cooking cause she can go in a kitchen and just make something out of nothing. So, tonight I just threw caution to the wind and figured if it didn't turn out decent, we could eat cereal!

My tip of the day: Even though you don't have much, you can still eat if you aren't afraid to be creative!

Had the night off!

So, every now and again, I get to take a night off :) Used to happen alot more than it does now, but hey...its ok. Really...he makes a big mess when he cooks! LOL! I hate cleaning up after him. ;) but, in the end, its totally worth it cause his food is pretty darn yumtastic!

So, tonight he made some mexican creation...I don't guess he even gave it a name, but it was chicken with taco sauce, lime, and tequila! Then he topped it with this corn mixture of corn, onions, peppers, spices and more tequila! He rounded out the plate with spanish rice. It was pretty darn tasty! I must say that I was skeptical when he was trying to describe it, but he did not disappoint. I am sure he'll work on perfecting this dish, he likes to do that...makes something good, and wants to make it even better next time! Ha! Just be happy it turned out! ;)

Anyway, the munchkin got spagettios cause he wouldn't eat the chicken, or the rice, or the corn stuff. It looks waaaayyyy to interesting for him! LOL! He gets his picky-ness from his momma!

My tip of the day: Always insist that your picky eaters take a "no thank you" bite...they may just be surprised at what they'll enjoy if they just taste it! (yeah, yeah...I'm one to talk...I know!)

Let the Adventure Begin!

Can I cook? Yes. Is the food I cook tasty? That's debatable!

I have always liked to cook. Sad thing is that I am not really great at it. But, lately I've decided to not let it stop me. I've been willing to try to do new things in the kitchen. Heck, just last month I used bone-in chicken breasts for the first time EVER! Now, some of you might think that is just crazy, but it's true. I have been cooking for over half of my life but I must say that I've been a lazy cook (in my earlier years) and then I progressed to a "neat freak" kind of cook (thus the reason for only using boneless skinless chicken breasts, much less "ick" factor - in my mind anyway). So, I have decided that I would like to document my journey of discovering just how wonderful a cook I can be. I don't plan on becoming Paula Deen (hey Ya'll!) but I guarantee that I will have fun. For those of you that will be reading my blog, you can expect that you will laugh with me as I screw up dishes, endure total flops (which I will force my family to eat anyway!) and you may even get to share a few "hey that actually turned out kinda good" moments with me.

So, stay tuned...This is sure to be a good time. If nothing else you can read my blog to make yourself feel better about your own cooking! ;)

My tip of the day...Just because a recipe LOOKS good in the photo, doesn't mean it will BE good!