CHICKARITOS

PHOTO COURTESY OF TASTE OF HOME

CHICKARITOS from Taste of Home

Ingredients

3 cups finely chopped cooked chicken

1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 package (17-1/4 ounces) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed or pie pastry for double-crust 10-inch pie

Guacamole

Salsa

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, chilies, onions, cheese and

seasonings. Chill until serving.

Remove half of the pastry from refrigerator. On a lightly floured

surface, roll to a 12-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Cut into nine small

rectangles. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling across the center

of each rectangle. Wet edges of pastry with water and roll pastry

around filling. Crimp ends with a fork to seal. Repeat with

remaining pastry and filling.

Place seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Refrigerate

until ready to heat. Bake at 425° for 20-25 minutes or until

golden brown. Serve warm with salsa and guacamole. Yield: 1-1/2

dozen.

KIELBASA AND CABBAGE SKILLET AND PARENT TEACHER

PHOTO COURTESY TASTE OF HOME

KIELBASA AND CABBAGE SKILLET 

adapted from Taste of Home

Loved this dish because I have nothing like it, and it is not something I would have normally picked but I am glad I did.

Ingredients

• 1 pound smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 large head cabbage (4 pounds), coarsely chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 3 cans (8 ounces each) Hunt’s® Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 3 to 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (my addition)
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (my addition)

Directions

• In a Dutch oven, brown the sausage in 2 tablespoons butter; remove
• and set aside. In the same pan, saute cabbage, garlic and onions in
• remaining butter until onions are tender.
• Combine the tomato sauce, sugar and paprika; pour over cabbage
• mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover ( I would add the potatoes here they took quite a bit longer to cook then 30 minutes) and simmer for 20
• minutes. Add the potatoes and reserved sausage. Cover and simmer for
• 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Tonight is parent teacher conference, ours is at 5:45pm and I am so not looking forward to this. Many parents, especially those who have girls, get all the wonderful adorations about how well their child sits and does their seat work and how much they participate, not my Kaleb. Kaleb is a dreamer, he is easily distracted and instead of doing his seat work he sits and does nothing. The teacher and I are at an impasse there is nothing more I can do unless I sit beside him at school and nudge him everytime he starts to wander off into thought. The truth is I feel for him, I can't tell him yet, but I used to daydream in school all the time. I remember getting lost in thought only to snap to and have no clue what we were doing in class. Tonight will be filled with us talking about having no idea what to do to make Kaleb do his seat work, how he aces tests, but that will not be enough when he goes to third grade in the other building. SIGH I hate parent teacher conference. 

BEEF AND BACON STROGANOFF AND RAIN GUTTERS

Photo courtesy Taste of Home

BEEF AND BACON STROGANOFF Taste of Home

Yes another wonderful recipe from Taste of Home, seems like I have more success then failure with recipes from their magazines. This is another tasty, simple and cheap meal to make. I have to go to the grocery store tomorrow so we are light on the food around the house, but I still had everything to pull this together, gotta love that, ok well you don't gotta but I sure love it.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
• 5 thick-sliced bacon strips, chopped
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) beef broth
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom with roasted garlic soup, undiluted
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt ( I omit the salt since there is bacon and I have folks with high blood pressure in the house)
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 6 cups uncooked egg noodles
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
• 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
• Minced fresh parsley, optional

Directions

• In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the beef, bacon, mushrooms, onion and garlic until beef is no longer pink; drain. Stir in flour until blended. Add the broth, soup, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt and paprika. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain.
• Stir sour cream and horseradish into beef mixture; heat through (do not boil). Serve with noodles. Sprinkle with cheese. Garnish with parsley if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Well I finally scheduled someone to come out and clean the gutters. Yes I know that should have been done last fall, however did not get it done. I am excited because all summer and right now (because of the warm weather) we have Niagara falls outside our sliding glass door because the gutters are so clogged. Two hundred dollars for the gutters, and I should have the honey pot come suck out the septic there is another 200, then the driveway needs stone which is 200 dollars too. It is another enigma everything that needs to be done around the house is the magical number of 200. PHEW!

ASPARAGUS GROUND BEEF STIR-FRY AND ZOMBIES

PHOTO COURTESY TASTE OF HOME

ASPARAGUS GROUND BEEF STIR-FRY from Taste of Home
Loved, loved, loved this dish. There were no leftovers which was a big time bummer I could have really gone for some for lunch the next day. I opted to omit the water chestnuts, tomato and mushrooms because I have people in the house who do not like those foods. I did add some bell pepper and it was fabulous.

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)

2 cups cut fresh asparagus (1-inch pieces)

1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 package (5 ounces) sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1-1/2 cups beef broth

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot

1 large tomato, chopped

Hot cooked rice, optional

Directions

In a large skillet or wok, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the same pan, stir-fry the asparagus, water chestnuts, mushrooms and garlic in oil for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, broth, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and ginger until blended; pour over vegetables. Return beef to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in the tomato. Serve with rice if desired. Yield: 4 servings.


Ok I might be addicted to Plants vs Zombies. I want to play it in my free time, and I have to fight Kaleb for the computer because he likes to play it as well. Right now is the perfect opportunity to get in some quality play time because the baby is asleep, I just put Evan up to bed and Mike took Kaleb to pack night. The computer is mine all mine for at least 2 hours. That is 2 hours of uninterrupted Zombie blastin' time...ok so maybe I am addicted.

OREO CHOCOLATE FILLED TRUFFLE CUPS

OREO CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY TRUFFLE CUPS Kraft Foods

I loved how simple these were to make, and they look like I fussed. No baking, just a little microwaving and slapping things together. I opted to use peanut butter for one tray of 12 and marshmallow creme for the other 12. Totally tasty and worth the minimal effort to throw together.

2 doz. or 24 servings

what you need

1/4 cup butter or margarine, divided

12   OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 1 cup)

2 Tbsp. raspberry jam

1 pkg.  (6 squares) BAKER'S White Chocolate

1/2 cup whipping cream, divided

6 squares  BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

2 Tbsp. multi-colored sprinkles

make it

MELT 2 Tbsp. butter; mix with cookie crumbs. Press onto bottoms of 24 miniature paper-lined muffin cups. Add 1/4 tsp. jam to each. Refrigerate until ready to use.

MICROWAVE white chocolate, 1/4 cup cream and 1 Tbsp. of the remaining butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is well blended. Spoon over jam. Freeze 10 min.

NEW BANANA BREAD RECIPE AND EYE SORES

Well the morning started out simple enough, low on milk, low on butter and brown speckled bananas on the verge of reaching inedible.  So I thought why not make some banana bread and I have a new recipe that I wanted to try, only because it calls for cream cheese and I love cream cheese. Since we are low on butter I had to substitute the butter-flavored Crisco for butter.

BANANA BREAD adapted from Taste of Home

Like I said up above due to a shortage of butter (seems people must be eating it by the stick here) I used the butter-flavored Crisco. I also added nutmeg to the bread because I LOVE nutmeg in my banana bread. I am sure cinnamon would be just as tasty. This bread has the nicest texture, soft and fluffy, with the creamiest taste. I am also imagining the alternatives to the orange flavor in the glaze...

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup chopped pecans, divided
• ORANGE GLAZE:
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Directions

• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture just until moistened. Fold in 1/2 cup pecans. 
• Transfer to two 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining pecans. Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 
• In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).

This recipe yields TWO loaves which in our home is important many people wandering around and banana bread seems to go fast. This is what brings me to the sore eyes...our full house consists of Mister, myself our 3 boys, Mocha the lab and my parents. My parents came to live with us when their eyesight failed them. Yes, both of them have issues and it seems to never end which is slightly disheartening. My mom lost an eye to glaucoma because the pressure could not be controlled by her medicine and surgery led to infection and yadda yadda yadda she is a cyclop. My dad's eyesight is something else, retinal detachment, macular degeneration and cataracts with pressure issues as well. Here is the kicker bad enough that mom has only one eye left, that eye is now troubled too, the pressure seems out of control. To top off that, dad who is legally blind, is going to have cataract surgery and his pressure seems not so good so they are talking about trying to relieve some of that pressure while removing the cataract. Just so amazing that over 10 years later they are still dealing with these eye problems.

SCALLOPED TUNA POTATOES

Where's Mom Now That I Need Her? hit another home run with this recipe which I of course slightly altered.

SCALLOPED TUNA POTATOES

3 Tbsp butter
1/4 C minced onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
1/2 tsp Old Bay
3 Tbsp flour
2 C milk
1 (6 1/2 oz) can tuna, drained and flaked
3 large potatoes thinly sliced
Shredded cheese


Saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in salt, pepper, Old Bay and flour; whip in milk to make sauce. Continue cooking, stir constantly until thickened. Add tuna and heat through. Layer potatoes in 8x8 square pan; sprinkle cheese over potatoes (I actually sprinkled the potatoes with some Lemon Pepper before I put on the cheese) then pour tuna mixture over top. Bake covered at 350 degrees for one hour then uncover and bake 30 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender.

If you get the potatoes thin enough they will cook even faster then the 1 1/2 hours required.

I do not have a picture because in this house it is hard enough to move at a speed befitting the boys. It seems like I barely have enough time to pull my hands away from their plates.