Taco Chili

This is a great thing to make on a cold day. Or if you just want your buck to go a long way. I think all the ingredients together cost less than $8. And it serves about 8-10 people. Or lots of leftovers for 2.
I've seen recipes that kinda resemble this chili, but none of them are just like this one.

2 cans corn
1 can northern beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 can of water
1 lb browned hamburger meat
1 package taco seasoning

Drain all the cans of beans and corn and empty into your crock pot. (You can change or add any type of beans that you like. Also, you don't need 2 cans of corn; I just love corn!) Add the tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and hamburger meat. Slowly add the can of water until you have the consistency that you like. Stir ingredients together.
Cook in the crock pot on high for about an hour or on low for about 3 hours. (A little more or less time won't totally ruin it. All the ingredients are cooked; you just want it heated through really well.) I'm sure you could do this on the stove if you don't have a crock pot. Just cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes.

Mac and Cheese with Potatoes and Chicken

I'm back now. The other night I decided it was time to get back into trying new recipes for my blog. I had some left over Gruyere cheese from a fondue night and I wanted to use it before it went bad. I found a recipe for Mac and Cheese and I really like it. It's super quick and easy. (It's from Aida Mollenkamp on Food Network.) I also found a recipe for potatoes on The Pioneer Woman's website. And I used my favorite stove top chicken cooking style.
For the chicken, I just salt and pepper each side and sprinkle with a little fresh herbs. I use something different every time and sometimes a mixture. Pick your faves from Rosemary, Thyme, and Parsley. Heat a few tablespoons of EVOO over medium heat. When the chicken is just about done on both sides (about 5 minutes each side) I mix about a half cup each of white wine and chicken stock and pour that in the pan. I flip the chicken every so often until almost all the liquid is cooked out.

Crash Hot Potatoes

Here's a link to the Pioneer Woman's recipe. Crash Hot Potatoes I didn't have all the stuff and time for her recipe so I just used the idea and put it into what I had. Here's what I did:

2 cans new potatoes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Rosemary

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drain the potatoes and spread out in an oven safe dish. Take a fork and mash the potatoes a little just to open them up. Drizzle a little EVOO over the potatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes.

Sage Butter Macaroni and Four Cheese

3 tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra for baking dish
4 oz. finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
1 pound macaroni
3 tbsp thinly sliced sage (didn't have any so used thyme and parsley)
6 ounces shredded Gruyere cheese
4 ounces shredded aged cheddar
4 ounces mascarpone cheese (didn't have so used cream cheese)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to broil and arrange rack in top. Butter a 9 by 9-inch baking dish and set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter and mix in a medium bowl with 1 cup of the Parmigiano and all the bread crumbs until thoroughly moistened; set aside.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for half the time indicated on package.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When it starts to foam, add sage and cook until crisp and butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside until pasta is ready. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta.

Return pasta to pot and place over low heat. Stir in sage butter, reserved pasta water, remaining 3 cups Parmigiano, Gruyere, Cheddar, mascarpone, and salt, and season with freshly ground black pepper. Stir constantly until cheeses are evenly melted and the pasta looks well coated. Turn pasta into baking dish and evenly top with bread crumb mixture. Place under broiler until mixture bubbles and top is browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Steak Marinade with Green Beans and Mashed Potatoes

(Sorry about the bad picture; I forgot to take one and we were sitting down to eat. And it was a paper plate night...)

The meal sure was tasty though! I had some leftover steak from the other night so I went searching for a marinade. I found one that looked worth trying at Cooks.com. And normally I pour a can of green beans into a sauce pan and cook them until they're done with just salt and pepper. But I decided to be different tonight. The asparagus from last week gave me an idea.

Green Beans

1 can of Green beans
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable Seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain the can of green beans and put green beans in a small pan. (I used a bread pan.) Lightly drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little bit of vegetable seasoning. (I used McCormick - great!) Put in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Mashed Potatoes

Packet of fast fixing mashed potatoes
Water
Heavy cream
Butter
Salt
Pepper

Use whatever brand or size of fast mashed potatoes that you like. (I used Idahoan brand.) As for the measurements, just substitute a fourth of the packet instructions for water with twice that much heavy cream. (If the packet says 1 cup water, use 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup heavy cream.) Boil the water without the heavy cream. When the water is boiling add the cream slowly. Let it sit for just a minute (don't let it boil again) and then remove from heat to add potatoes. After potatoes have been sitting for the called for time, add as much butter as you like (I like a lot!) and salt and pepper. If you like your potatoes really creamy you can add more heavy cream.

Steak Marinade

1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup Red wine
1 Tbsp. chopped Parsley
3 Tbsps. Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1/2 tsp. each Salt and Pepper

Combine all ingredients. Reserve about a 1/4 cup for basting during cooking. In a ziploc bag, marinate steak for at least 4 hours. (The longer the better - up to overnight.)

Roasted Asparagus and Parsley Potatoes

You can just season a steak however you like or serve with chicken or pork chops instead. But these potatoes and asparagus are SO good!
I got the asparagus recipe from Cooks.com and the potatoes from Allrecipes.com. I made them almost like the recipe directed.

Roasted Asparagus

Asparagus
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder

I don't have measurements because it doesn't really matter.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Wash and trim off about an inch of as much asparagus as you want. Place in a single layer in a pan. Drizzle from top to bottom with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper and just a couple pinches of garlic powder. Then stick it in the oven for 8-10 minutes. You don't want them to get too wrinkly.

Parsley Potatoes

2 cans New potatoes
1/4 cup Butter
1/4 cup chopped Parsley
1/4 tsp. Dried marjoram

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add parsley and marjoram. Add the potatoes and stir gently until coated and heated through.

Spinach and Italian Sausage Lasagna with Alfredo Sauce

You already know that my homemade Alfredo Sauce is one of my favorite recipes. Well, this one is obviously right up there with it because it is made with the sauce!
This is a recipe that I made up as well. I took a regular old lasagna recipe and substituted alfredo, spinach, and italian sausage. I've seen a couple lasagna recipes online with one or a combination of two of those ingredients, but not one with all three like mine. You may find one somewhere, but on my normal recipe sites I didn't see one.

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Serves: 6-8 (or 4 if you REALLY like it!)

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Italian Sausage
5 oz. Frozen Chopped Spinach
1 1/2 cups Mozzarella Cheese (for topping)
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (for topping)

Alfredo Sauce:
16 oz. Cream Cheese
2 sticks Butter
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning

Cheese Layer:
2 Eggs
15 oz. Ricotta Cheese
12 oz. Cottage Cheese
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Start browning the sausage and cooking the spinach to package instructions.
3. While sausage and spinach are cooking start the noodles and alfredo sauce. (This may sound like a lot at one time, but they all go really slowly, so it's doable.)
4. For alfredo sauce: heat cream cheese and butter in a medium sauce pan on medium-low heat.
5. When the cheese and butter are melted add the milk, parmesan cheese, and seasoning. (It mixes best with a whisk.)
6. When the sauce is mixed well turn off the heat and reserve about a half cup of sauce.
7. When the spinach and sausage are done drain each separately. (After draining the spinach I like to wrap it in a couple paper towels and wring it out really well, otherwise the lasagna will be runny. I like to chop the spinach some more after draining it so I don't get long stringy pieces when I'm eating. Also, rinse the sausage. The grease tastes nasty after it's cooked in the oven.)
8. Mix the spinach and sausage into the alfredo sauce and set aside as one of your layers.
9. Mix the egg and 4 cheeses for the cheese layer and set aside.
10. In a 9x13 pan (the deepest one you have) spread reserved half cup of sauce on the bottom.
11. Lay down the noodles, then 1/3 of cheese mixture, then 1/3 of suasage and sauce mixture. Repeat these layers twice.
12. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
13. Uncover and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Leave uncovered and continue baking for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Fresh Potted Herbs: You can do it too!

I planted basil in my garden this summer. It was fabulous! I used leaves for at least 20 recipes from that little $3.00 plant. It only died about a month ago because we were living away from our house for a month and never got to water it.
I planted some parsley and oregano in a flower pot and had it in my kitchen for a while, but got tired of it cluttering my already small amount of counter space. I set it on the back deck right in the middle of the all day sun with no shade. The pot I had planted it in didn't have a hole in the bottom either. Those plants died in about a week (along with a few other flowers I'd put out there).
However, I have a few potted plants that I've managed to keep alive for more than 4 months. One is sitting on my front porch that has great morning sun, but not that hot and heavy afternoon sun. It is also planted in a pot with a hole in the bottom to drain the water.
This is how I've planted my new herbs so I hope they last! I'll let you know how they do to see if this is a good spot for herb growing.

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