Taco Melts

Yield: 8 sandwiches * Overall Price: $15

Ingredients:
1 package (1.25 ounces) taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
11/2 cups salsa
1 pound lean ground beef, cooked and drained
1 can (16.3-ounces) Pillsbury Grands refrigersted biscuts (8 biscuts)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup sour cream, if desired

Directions:
1. Combine taco seasoning mix, water, 1/2 cup of salsa and cooked ground beef; cook until thickened.
2. Press each biscut into 6-inch round. Fill each with taco mixture and tablespoon cheese. Fold dough over filling and press to seal. Place on greased cookie sheet.
3. Bake in preheated 375*F oven 9 to 14 minutes. Serve with remaining salsa, cheese, and sour cream.

Thoughts:
This was really easy to make and very yummy. Kelsey thought they were AMAZING! The meat was an excellent flavor, and the biscuts were not too done, and very soft. Kelsey has suggested that I make these a couple of times a month! She loved them a lot :)

Happy Birthday Paige!

Friday was Paige's 20th birthday. Kelsey and I wanted to something special for her birthday, so we called her mom and exchanged a few emails to figure out what her favorite meal was. We made it for her and although it probably wasn't as good as her mommy's, she enjoyed it. It consisted of a chicken casserole dish, birds nest (mashed potatoes with sweet peas in the middle), and dinner rolls.

Pork Tenderloin Studded with Rosemary and Garlic

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~ $18 * Calories: 147

Served here with boiled red potatoes and caramelized carrots

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 475*
2. Combine rosemary and garlic. Make several 1/2-inch-deep slits in pork then place half of rosemary mixture in slits. Rub pork with remaining rosemary mixture; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place pork on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 475* for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Thoughts:
This wasn't too hard to make, but I don't think it turned out the way it was suppose to. I mean it was good, but there was almost too much flavor. I guess I'm not to use to cooking with or eating rosemary, but I'd make it again with a little less.

Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni

Yield: 8 servings * Overall Price: $10.58 * Calories: 350

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 2/3 cups 1% low-fat milk
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded extrasharp chedder cheese
3 ounces light processed cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray
1/3 cup crushed onion melba toasts
1 tablespoon butter, softened

Directions:
1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.
2. Preheat oven to 375*
3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick (about 8 minutes), stirring constantly. Add cheeses; cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Remove cheese mixture from heat; stir in cooked macaroni and salt.
4. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Combine crushed toasts and butter; stir until well blended. Sprinkle over macaroni mixture. Bake at 375* for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Thoughts:
This was very interesting to make and not like any other macaroni and cheese I've ever made which is why I wanted to try it. I've had better, but this was still pretty good. Kelsey and Paige also enjoyed it.

Linguini Aglio e Olio

My friend, Michael, has been trying to get me to try his recipe, so I finally did tonight. It was pretty easy to make and very inexpensive.

Ingredients: 
1 pound dry linguini
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated parmigiano-Reggiano
Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of salf.  Add the linguine and stir well.  Cook, stirring occasionally for 8 minutes, or until al dente, tender but not mushy.  Try to time it so that the garlic (below) is done when the pasta is ready. While the pasta cooks, place a large skillet over low heat and add the oil, garlic, 1 teraspoon salt, and red-pepper flakes. 

2. Cook and stir for 3 minutes, or until the garlic softens and then becomes a light golden color.  It is important not to let the garlic get too brown as this will result in a bitter, unpleasant taste. Drain the pasta in a colander set in the sink, reserving about ¼ cup of the starchy cooking water. 

3. Add the pasta and the reserved pasta water, a little at a time, to the garlic mixture.  Toss well to aerate the pasta, making the sauce slick and creamy.  Sprinkle in the parsley, toss well to coat evenly, and season with salt and pepper.

4. Transfer the pasta to a large warm serving bowl or divide among 4 warm shallow bowls.  Pass the grated cheese around the table for serving.  

Peppercorn-Crusted Steak with Port Jus

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~ $35 * Calories: ~ 300

Served here with roasted asparagus and rice

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
4 New York Strips
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup port wine
1/2 cup fat free, less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
1. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Rub pepper evenly over steak. Sprinkle salt over bottom of pan. Add steaks to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove steaks from pan; set aside.
2. Stir in port and broth, scarping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat to medium. Return steaks to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove steaks from pan. Cook until liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup. Remove pan from heat. Add butter to pan; stir with a whisk until melted. Drizzle sauce over steaks.

Thoughts:
This was super easy and pretty tasty. It all had really great flavoring. The steaks were on sale at kroger when they were bought, so this would probably be more expensive in the future.
Paige loved the steak! She thought the asparagus was cooked to perfection and loved all of the seasonings, which means a lot, because she has a really bland pallet. so yay!

Cupcake Cake Pops

Since everyone left me this weekend I decided to wander around tiger town and found out that Hobby Lobby has baking stuff! Of course I felt the need to buy the pink candy coating, not knowing what I was going to do with it. So, I spent four hours of my Saturday night making these cupcake shaped cake pops (and watching Rent and Obsessed...). I made these with chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. The pink candy coating is vanilla and of course the brown is chocolate. My feet were killing me by the time I was finished, but I think it was totally worth it because they turned out cute and everyone enjoyed them after returning to Auburn.

Roasted Tilapia, Tomatoes, & Garlic

Since Kelsey and Paige left me in Auburn all by myself this weekend, I decided to try a fish dish. Hardly anyone here likes fish, so I decided I'd try it when I was just cooking for myself (even though I don't really like fish...I decided to give it another shot). I'm giving the recipe that I found in Women's Day Specials - Eating Light magazine, but I only made one serving.

Served here with sliced french bread

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price (just for me): ~ $10 * Calories: 373

Ingredients:
2 pints grape tomatoes
8 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
4 6-oz tilapia fillets
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon capers, roughly chopped

Directions:
1. Heat oven too 400*F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the tomatoes, garlic, 1 tbsp of the oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Roast for 6 minutes.
2. Nestle the fish among the tomatoes, drizzle the remaining tbsp oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until the fish is opaque throughout and the tomatoes have begun to burst, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Transfer the fish to plates. Sprinkle the tomatoes with parsley and capers, and toss to combine. Serve with the fish.

Thoughts:
Well, I liked this fish. I was really worried, but it turns out to be pretty good. I'd make it again.

Tex-Mex Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yield: 5 servings * Overall Price: ~ $30 * Calories: 331

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

10 ounces chicken breast, chopped

2 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup water
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (14.5-ounce) cans no salt-added tomatoes, undrained and chopped
2 (14-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles

5 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and chopped onion, and cook 7 minutes or until onion is tender. Add chopped garlic to pan, and saute 30 seconds. Stir in corn and next 8 ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes.
2. Ladle soup into individual bowls, and top with sour cream.

Thoughts:
This was pretty easy to make. It was really yummy too. Everyone agreed that it was good. I might have wanted it more spicy (adding more jalapeno), but I was serving someone who doesn't really care for spicy food.

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!

So excited that my Auburn Tigers are at the BCS Championship! For the occasion I made football shaped cake balls. Paige helped me decorate them and they turned out really yummy! I made them with strawberry flavored cake mixed with cream cheese frosting and coated it with chocolate flavored almond bark.

Quick Pizza Margherita

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~ $15 * Calories: 298

Ingredients:
1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
cooking spray
1 teaspoon extravirgin olive oil, divided
1 garlic glove, halved
5 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup (4 ounce) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400*
2. Unroll dough onto a backing sheet coated with cooking spray; pat into a 13x11-inch rectangle. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove crust from oven; brush with 1/2 teaspoon oil. Rub crust with cut sides of garlic.
3. Arrange tomato slices on crust, leaving 1/2-inch border; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake for 12 minutes or until cheese melts and crust is golden.
4. Combine 1/2 teaspoon oil and vinegar, stirring with a whisk. Sprinkle pizza evenly with sliced basil, salt, and pepper. Drizzle vinegar mixture evenly over pizza. Cut pizza into 8 rectangles.

Thoughts:
Super easy and super yummy!
Paige doesn't like tomatoes so I left a fourth of it without tomatoes. She thought it was really good and that the balsamic vinegar made the dish.

Grilled Chicken and Pesto Farfalle

Yield: 10 servings * Overall Price: ~ $25 * Calories: 508

Ingredients:
1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divivded
cooking spray
20 ounces uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
1 tablespoon butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk, divivded
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (3.5-ounce) jar commercial pesto (about 1/3 cup)
3/4 cup half-and-half
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
4 cups halved grape tomatoes (about 2 pints)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:
1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.
2. Sprinkle chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 10 minutes or until done, turning after 6 minutes. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes. Cut chicken into 1/2-inch pieces; keep warm.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain in colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Place pasta in large bowl.
4. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Combine 1/2 cup milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in pesto. Gradually add remaining 1 cup milk and half-and-half, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook 8 minute or until sauce thickens, stirring frequently. Add 1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 cup cheese; stir until cheese melts.
5. Add chicken and sauce to pasta, tossing well to coat. Add tomatoes and basil; toss gently. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Serve immediatly.

Kelsey enjoying the meal :)

Thoughts:
I thought the meal was really yummy! It was crazy to make though. I think it would be easier to make if one person cooked the chicken and another fixed the rest.
Paige thought it was great! She said that the pesto tasted great and the chicken was so moist!
Kelsey really liked that the chicken was so tender, not chewy. The sauce was amazing, and even though she normally doesn't like the baby roma tomatoes, she LOVED them in the sauce!! The bowtie pasta was also a fun variation on normal pasta noodles!

Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Yield: 4 servings * Overall price: ~ $20 * Calories: ~ 400
Ingredients
Lasagna:
8 uncooked lasagna noodles
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushroom
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup (2 ounce) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (7-ounce) bottle roasted red bell peppers, undrained
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions
1. To prepare lasagna, cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstock skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, mushrooms, spinach, and 3 garlic cloves; saute 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in cheeses and next 3 ingredients.
3. To prepare sauce, place vinegar and next 6 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth.
4. Place cooked noodles on a flat surface; spread 1/4 cup cheese mixture over each noodle. Roll up noodles, jelly-roll fashion, starting with short side. Place rolls, seam sides down, in a shallow 2-quart microwave-safe dish. Pour 1/4 cup sauce over each roll, and cover with heavy-duty plastic wrap. Microwave at high 5 minutes or until throughly heated. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoon basil.

Thoughts:
This was pretty easy. It was kinda spicy, but that could be fixed with less usage of crushed red pepper. We had ceasar salad as a side and I think it good with it.
Dad is one of those males that has to have meat at every meal. He was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed the lasagna. He saw me making it and asked where the meat was. He made a face when I told him it was meatless. He wants it again.
Mom thought it was yummy, but thought it was a little on the spicy hot side, hence why dad liked it so much. She too wouldn't mind having it again.
Izzy thought it was delicious, although I did have to pick off the mushrooms for her at first, she didnt mind the little that was left. Izzy even said that she was going to try to make this at home, and considering she doesn't even like to cook, that's saying something.

Basic Cake Balls

While having to stay out of my house yesterday due to the cleaning lady taking forever to clean our house, I decided to wander around Target. I soon found myself in the cookbook section and the next thing I knew I was buying two new cookbooks. One such book was Cake Pops by Bakerella. Everything I saw in the book looked so cute! Good thing I started with the basics because it's harder than it looks, but I look forward to getting better and trying a lot of the recipes!

Yield: 48 cake pops * Price: ~ $15 * Calories: you don't want to know :)

Ingredients
18.25-ounce box cake mix (I used red velvet)
16-ounce container ready-made frosting (I used cream cheese)
32 ounces (2 pounds) candy coating (I used chocolate almond bark)

Directions
1. Bake the cake as directed on the box, using a 9-by-13-inch  cake pan. Let cool completely.
2. Crumble the cooled cake into a large mixing bowl. You should not see any large pieces of cake.
3. Add three-quarters of the container of frosting. Mix it into the crumbled cake, using the back of a large metal spoon, until throughly combined.
4. The mixture should be moist enough to roll into 1 1/2-inch balls and still hold a round shape. After rolling the cake balls by hand, place them on a wax paper-covered baking sheet.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours in the refrigerator, or place in the freezer for about 15 minutes. You want the balls to be firm but not frozen.
6. Melt the candy coating, following the intrustions on the package.
7. Place one ball at a time into the bowl of candy coating. Lift out the cake ball with your spoon.
8. Transfer the coated cake ball to the second wax paper-covered backing sheet to dry.
9. Repeat with remaining cake balls and let dry completely.

Thoughts:
It was hard to make the balls stay perfectly round after coating with the chocolate. I think I have a few ideas on maybe fixing that though. I thought the cake balls were really sweet. It might just be that I think red velvet cake is really sweet and adding the chocolate flavor made it extra sweet. I look forward to expirementing more with the recipes and giving my own tweeks to them.

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~ $22 * Calories: ~ 300



Served here with Spanish rice

Ingredients
Chicken:
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray
Salsa:
1 cup chopped plum tomato
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped
(I doubled the salsa recipe because my family loves salsa)

Directions
1. To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill pan (I don't have one, so I used a regular one) over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.
2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

Thoughts:

• I really liked the meal! It was super easy and super yummy! Would totally make it again.
• Dad thought salt should be added to the chicken marinade, was a little tangy (because of lime), salsa made the dish, and had perfect spicyness for "normal" people. Overall, he liked it.
• Mom thought it was delicious. No complaints. What would you expect from a mom?

Plans for this blog...

My plan for making this is to blog about the meals I make. I plan to post the recipe I use, tell any tweeks I might have given it, how hard it was, around the price it was to make, and how my friends and I liked it. You might also get some tid bits about the ultra interesting life I lead :). I'm excited! I hope you are too!