web analytics

His and Hers Tex Mex Rice Bowl

2 Apr By 8 Comments

Looking for a quick and tasty dinner that only takes 10 minutes to make? I wanted to share our dinner from this evening, a his and her version of a Tex-Mex Rice Bowl.

This is the original ingredient list and recipe from Cooking Light that inspired this meal:

  • 1 8.8 oz precooked brown rice pack
  • 8 oz ground sirloin
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 tbls Ortega Seasoning
  • 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn
  • 1 can organic black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup pico de gallo
  • 1 jalapeno pepper/minced
  • 4 tsp fresh cilantro

However I always adapt my recipes, so here is what I used (and is featured in my pictures from dinner below):

  • 1 pouch of 10 minute brown rice
  • 1 pound of ground sirloin
  • 2 tblsp of homemade Taco Seasoning (see below for recipe)
  • 1 can of rinsed/drained organic black beans
  • 1 can of drained whole kernel corn
  • 1 cup homemade pico de gallo (see recipe below)

The difference in the two is that I prefer to make the rice so its fresh rather than premade in a pouch. I also used personal taco sauce and pico de gallo, rather than pre bought. These changes most likely enhanced the meals flavor, but if you are short on time, the first recipe will do in a pinch.

Instructions: Put rice on to boil for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook up your ground sirloin and add taco seasoning to meat, stirring in a splash of water if needed. Once meat is fully cooked, add beans and corn.

Once rice is done boiling, drain from pouch. You can either plate the rice and add the meat mixture on top for a rice bowl. Top with Fresh Pico De Gallo.

I call the “plate the rice, no chips” version Her Tex Mex Bowl:

 

 

 

I call the “add the rice into the meat and drape on chips” His Tex Mex Bowl:

 

In case you are interested:

Fresh Pico De Gallo

  • tomato chopped up ( I like the slicing variety, but you can use any variety you love)
  • 1/2 half small white onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup cilantro fresh cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice (I do this to taste)
  • salt  ( I do not suggest leaving salt out)

Mix and put in fridge for an hour. Voila!

Home Made Taco Seasoning

  • 2 teaspoons onion
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic ( I use fresh)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Some people use red pepper, but I find that red pepper is often too spicy, so I do not

 

Do you eat a lot of Mexican food in your house? It’s a staple around here so I am always looking for ways to mix it up.
~Trisha

Filed Under: Cooking Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Creamy Chicken Florentine Recipe

19 Mar By 3 Comments

As busy moms we are always looking for new ways to spice up old favorites or quick recipes for hectic schedules. I prefer to make a ton from scratch, but when it comes to spices I dont always know the way to mix and match with a perfect blend….of…well, perfection! I am a taste tester, meaning that when I cook, I cook as I go and sometimes that ends up with a burned pan or too much pepper or not enough cayenne. So when I can simplify those flavors and add a little help, it makes me happy!

Philadelphia Cooking Creme wants to help people like me out. Not only with flavoring food to a perfect homecooked meal, but in trying some new recipes. Their new “Recipe of the Month” features yummy looking recipes like: Baked Penne, Creamy Chicken Florentine and Shrimp & Broccoli Fettuccine.

Philadelphia Cooking Creme is currently available in:

  • - Italian Cheese & Herb
  • - Savory Garlic
  • - Savory Lemon & Herb
  • - Creamy Pesto
  • - Original
  • - Santa Fe Blend
  • - Tomato & Basil

You can find it in the refrigerated cheese section in most retailers nationwide. For those of you watching what you eat, they are also available in Reduced-Fat and 15 oz tubs.

The cooking cremes are easily paired with items you already have in your pantry (like pasta tortillas and rice), so they are a great option for those really crazy nights when you just don’t feel like cooking. With seven flavors of cooking creme to try, I would love to see what you cook up! Try this for example:

What You Need:

- 1lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cup halved red pepper strips
- 1 tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Savory Garlic Cooking Creme
- 1 pkg. (6 oz.) baby spinach leaves
- 2 cups hot cooked penne pasta
- 2 Tbsp. toasted Italian pine nuts

How To Make It:

COOK chicken and peppers in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 5 to 6 min. or until chicken is done.

ADD cooking creme; cook and stir 3 min.

STIR in spinach and pasta; top with nuts.

 

EASY EASY EASY! And regardless of being a working mom, stay at home mom, heck you don’t even have to be a mom, if you have to cook at night at ALL, the Philidephia Cooking Creme lends for some great options to fill up your plate (and get seconds).

You can learn more about  Philadelphia Cooking Creme on Facebook  and Twitter.
~trisha
sponsored post
Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Avgolemono

24 Jan By 7 Comments

Say What?

Exactly.

But this soup by a funny name has a fantastic taste. I have been reciping (is that a word?) my way through this new Cooking Light magazine I got the other day and I am 3 for 3 on recipes that my family has loved, and this one was no exception. The magazine states that Avgolemono is an “amazingly creamy soup without a drop of cream.”

And I agree.

AVGOLEMONO Recipe

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 6 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 large egg slightly beaten
  • 2 cups cooked chicken (shredded)
  • 2 tbls torn fresh basil

Instructions: Heat dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic and saute. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add in rice, reduce heat, and simmer for about 16 minutes. Stir in juice, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and egg in a small bowl (whisk works great) and slowly pour the egg mixture into broth and stir constantly so the egg doesn’t curdle. Add chicken and cook until the soup thickens and the rice is done.  Top w/ Parsley and Basil.

(My bowl! Num Num!)

Now my recipe:

First, I left out the salt. I always feel like chicken broth needs no extra salt. I pan fried up my chicken and cut into pieces instead of shredding it (but poached chicken probably has less calories) and I used dried basil and parsley at the end since I didn’t have fresh on hand. I used prepared garlic because I don’t like to touch it. And this may sound odd, but I used Jasmine Rice. I try to find many excuses to use it.

To add some color: I think frozen peas or mushrooms would work nicely in this flavoring and also provide some much needed color. If you dont use torn basil, your sort of stuck with a bland looking soup, but it doesnt have a bland flavor.

~trisha

Filed Under: Cooking Tagged With: , , , , ,

Salsa Soup Recipe, Yum, Yum

19 Aug By 3 Comments

Every month I get the Martha Stewart Everyday Food cookbook and I usually glance in there at all the pretty pics, tear out a few “maybe” recipes and then toss the book on my counter. Honestly a lot of recipe books carry foods or spices I don’t regularly keep on hand so unless I plan something specifically, they become useless.

But the other day I got the September issue and decided to try out a recipe, with my own alterations of course, because I had everything in the house for it and it sounded easy. I was absolutely 100% pleased with the outcome, so I am passing on for a quick and easy meal, for just you or for a whole family!

Salsa Soup

  • Original Recipe from Martha Stewart

1) Preheat oven to 400 and place 1  corn tortilla, cut into thin strips, on a baking sheet and bake until crisp and golden about 8 minutes

2) Meanwhile, combine 2 cups salsa and 1 3/4 cups chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Transfer to a blender and add 2 tbls heavy cream and blend until smooth, seasoning with course salt and ground pepper. Top with cheese, fresh cilantro and avocado.

My Altered Salsa Soup Recipe

  • The recipe I made and shown in my picture

1) Preheat oven to 400 and place 1  corn tortilla, cut into strips, on a baking sheet and bake until crisp and golden about 8 minutes. I dont do little tiny ones because I enjoy dipping them and eating it.

2) Meanwhile, add 1 jar Old El Paso Thick and Chunky Medium salsa (16 oz) and 1 can of chicken broth (14 oz) in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

3) Because I wanted something more hearty, I cooked up about a half a pound of hamburger meat and once cooked properly, put directly into the soup.

4) Stir in about 1 tbls of sour cream..now I believe the other recipe used a blender because creamy milk based in a hot liquid can curdle. I just whisked in with no issues. I also added a splash of milk and a small spoonful of butter, salt, pepper, and cilantro right in the saucepan.  Re-brought back to a boil, kept stirring, and then changed to low to simmer till I was ready to eat.

5) Once I put in bowl to serve, I added cheese and sour cream to taste and the crunchy tortilla strips I had made.

Because the salsa already had the perfect blend of spices, the soup was on par with an exact Mexican meal with little to no work. The entire process took maybe 15 minutes, with frying up the meat taking the longest, and I had enough for 2 bowls.

~Trisha

Filed Under: Cooking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Easy Butter Pound Cake Recipe

19 Apr By 29 Comments

I always tell everyone I cant bake. The truth is I nearly burned my house to oblivion in a cooking accident,  but thus far I have only just managed to burn bakery items. In all honesty, I can bake, I can cook, but I have a horrible time concentrating on the end result.

Translation: I walk out of the kitchen way too much.

I go to the Internet, I go to the TV, I talk with my family, I just get distracted in general. I can cook up a recipe to a “T”, I can create, I can alter, but after something goes in the oven, my brain goes numb. Its like I need an assistant. So last night when I went to bake a pound cake, I was bound and determined NOT to ruin it via burned toppings and sides.

For the record, I almost always set my timer…I just don’t always hear it….unless its a fire alarm-which isn’t good usage of letting you know something is “done”.

However if you have no issues taking your baking items OUT of the oven, here is a lovely recipe I managed to make from beginning to end last night and still leave the kitchen standing.

Pound cake is obviously one of those things that can be made a million ways. You can really up the sugar in it, change out some ingredients to include cream cheese as a base, or add all sorts of extracts for flavors you love, but overall its a very rich, thick tasting “cake” that is best served as an addition to something else (atleast in my taste buds view).

Here is a good start:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cooking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Charlotte the Chef!

22 Mar By 18 Comments

I am big on copycat recipes.

I love the salad dressings at restaurants, the special sauces, the breads, the dipping, and all the fresh spices! I am a decent cook (not so much in the baking department) but I can cook up a mean piece of chicken if I feel like it.

The other night I wanted a salad, but wanted it to taste like it came from Olive Garden – minus the drive over there.  With gas prices the way they are, we have to figure out how to cut corners without cutting our tastebuds out of the equation. So I scoured the web for copy cat recipes regarding Olive Gardens Italian dressing and there were plenty to choose from! Most looked the same so it was a guess on which one would get the closest. We dove right in according to the ingredients we had on hand.

Here is the recipe we used, but with our own alterations:

Olive Garden Copy Cat Recipe Salad Dressing

  • 1/2  cup  mayonnaise
  • 1/3  cup  white vinegar
  • 1  teaspoon  vegetable oil
  • 2  tablespoons  Parmesan cheese
  • 2  tablespoons  Romano cheese
  • 1/4  teaspoon  garlic salt
  • 1/2  teaspoon  Italian seasoning
  • 1/2  teaspoon  dried parsley
  • 1  tablespoon  lemon juice

We actually found this recipe was super runny and tad too tart to be enjoyable long term, so in our house, I ended up adding a lot more Hellmans. It made the dressing creamier, probably a bit closer to a Carrabba’s House Dressing over Olive Gardens Italian. I ended up changing the 1/2  cup mayo to a full cup and then let chill in the fridge for atleast an hour. I also added some sugar to counteract the vinegar flavor, which really helped tone it down.

Make sure you seal off or cover the dressing. The smells have a way of overpowering the fridge.

Charlotte was the Chef for this occasion and did all the hard work:

(as you can see, Charlotte is um…dressing herself lately..they both have purple so apparently they match)

I did the dishes for her.

Other versions of this Olive Garden Salad Dressing Recipe to check out:

Food.com

CopyKat

Flora’s Recipe Hideout

CDKitchen

Sun Sentinel

Group Recipes

 

~Trisha

Guess that Celebrity Smile!

Filed Under: Cooking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oscar Party Recipe Ideas

5 Mar By 2 Comments

Ever since I finished up my Top 100 Mom Blogs of 2009 I realized how utterly overrun with “stuff” my blog was. Don’t get me wrong. I liked it. I loved it even. It just wasn’t very “reader” friendly and lets face it, without you, this blog is nothin’ but a place I put up  my bad grammar, cuss words, and semi-nude photos.

Speaking of our Top 100, you can see some Bakerella approved recipes right here! (she was our #3…can I call ‘em or what?)

The Oscars are just around the corner (Sunday!) and Hyundai has you covered if you are looking for some fun “Oscar” related recipe ideas.

There are some pretty clever recipe  names like Up in the Eclair and Inglorious Custards.

*snort*

I cant cook worth a crap without a recipe. Or even with a recipe. But it looks more professional in the kitchen when I whip out my paper and pretend Im reading it. My husband leaves me alone.

If you want some recipe ideas or one of these handy dandy sidebar widgety things, you can go to the Hyundai Facebook Page for your blog.

Filed Under: Sidebar News Tagged With: , ,

Homemade Pretzels

30 Sep By 13 Comments

Charlotte and I are not talented cooks. Nothing ever looks right, but we have fun. The other day we made Homemade Pretzels. Do not be fooled, this is harder than it looks.

Here is the recipe we used:

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups water (approx 105 degrees)
  • 1 tablespoon yeast
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups occident flour (bread flour)
  • 2 cups flour

Dipping solution

  • 1/2 cup baking soda, into
  • 3 cups hot water
  • sweet creamy butter, for ‘dipping’ face of pretzels after baking (melt butter, then let set a few minutes, and use paper towel to remove cream which will float to the)

Directions

  1. Dissolve yeast into warm water.
  2. Add sugar, then flour& mix well- do not ‘knead’ as this toughens the dough.
  3. (Mix just until combined well) Let rise until doubled, at least 20 minutes.
  4. Cut into long ‘ropes’.
  5. Shape into pretzel shapes, then dip into prepared dipping solution.
  6. Place on well-greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with pretzel salt.
  7. Bake at 500-550°F for 4-6 minutes until golden brown.
  8. Dip face of pretzel into melted butter.
  9. Variation: add 1 t vanilla to the dough.
  10. Flavor variations.
  11. Cinnamon/sugar- omit salt& dip into cinnamon sugar after face has been coated with butter.
  12. Sour cream& onion- after dipping face of pretzel in butter, sprinkle with sour cream& onion powder Garlic- same as sour cream& onion, but use garlic powder.
  13. Sesame or poppy seed–BEFORE baking, AFTER dipping into dipping solution, dip pretzel face-down into the seeds, then bake.
  14. Salt is optional with this one.

How it really went:

I did most of the stuff up until the yeast rising. Am I the only one that hates working with Yeast? Or saying the word “Yeast”.
Yeast.
I might as well be saying the word “Vagina”.
pretzeldough

2) Rolling into ropes is not an easy concept for a 4 year old.

Lots of smashing and “mommy, I need help” statements.

pretzeldirections
rollingdough

3) Shaping the dough was pretty much pointless-for either one of us. Hearts and dots; not so much pretzel shapes. I’m starting to think there is a hefty training program at that Auntie Annes in the mall.

addingpretzels

dough

4) This pile looks like dog doo doo.

dogcrap

Or hearts.

Depends on your perspective.

heartdough

5) Put in oven.

And Pray.

dearlord

6) Once they are done, cover in butter.

As you can see I used a paintbrush sponge. This soaked up the butter excellently. I used this because I couldn’t find a baster, but it worked great.

butterpretzels

7) Everything tastes better with sugar. Even our cooking!

sugarpretzels

Filed Under: Cooking, Parenting Tagged With: , ,