Well, unfortunately the weather in Fort Collins is no longer 70 degrees... now it is more like 16 degrees. Lucky for us, we have a nice warm home, a fireplace and a crockpot! I love crockpots because you can throw a whole lot of random ingredients in, hit a button, and you're good to go. Here's what I threw in yesterday, and it turned out great!
Husband rating: 8
1 onion- chopped
1 jalapeno- chopped fine (I would say this is optional)
2 garlic cloves
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 can stewed Mexican style tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with jalapenos and green chilies
1 small can of green chilies
About 2 cups chicken broth
2 chicken breast- I chopped mine, but your probably could put them in whole and shred them once they are cooked (for you vegetarians, you could opt to not put the chicken in, I bet it would be great!)
Some salt, pepper and a little sprinkle of cumin
Throw it all in the crockpot with the meat on top. Cook on low for about 7/8 hours. Eat it with tortilla chips and sour cream. And the best part... leftovers! Yum!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Easy Chicken Tenders
Here is a cheap and easy recipe for Chicken Tenders. Just go to the store and purchase some chicken tenders: They are already cut for you and they are super cheap (around $3 for a package).
Husband Rating: 7
Jeremy (aka college brother) Rating: 7- He says "It's good!"
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Mayo
- 1/2 cup Ranch
- Sprinkle of garlic salt
- Sprinkle of onion salt
- Sprinkle of Paprika (about 1/8- 1/4 tsp for all of the spices)
- A bag (about 10 oz) of potato chips- crushed
- Chicken Tenders (about a pound)
Mix all of the ingredients except the potato chips in a bowl. Put the crushed potato chips in another bowl. Dip and cover the chicken in the Mayo mixture. Then dip and cover the chicken in the crushed potato chips. Put in a greased casserole/baking dish. Bake for 20-22 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
We ate it with a salad, but you could also bake some potatoes or make potato wedges... however you like!
Enjoy!
Husband Rating: 7
Jeremy (aka college brother) Rating: 7- He says "It's good!"
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Mayo
- 1/2 cup Ranch
- Sprinkle of garlic salt
- Sprinkle of onion salt
- Sprinkle of Paprika (about 1/8- 1/4 tsp for all of the spices)
- A bag (about 10 oz) of potato chips- crushed
- Chicken Tenders (about a pound)
Mix all of the ingredients except the potato chips in a bowl. Put the crushed potato chips in another bowl. Dip and cover the chicken in the Mayo mixture. Then dip and cover the chicken in the crushed potato chips. Put in a greased casserole/baking dish. Bake for 20-22 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
We ate it with a salad, but you could also bake some potatoes or make potato wedges... however you like!
Enjoy!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thank you Jenna!
Because of Jenna's delicious recipe, Chris and I have eaten well for 2 nights, AND I don't have to cook tonight either. This is one of those meals that tastes even better as leftovers than the night you made it. In fact, we probably could go for 4 or 5 nights with this lasagna, but Chris doesn't necessarily enjoy eating vegetarian that much. But, I don't mind, so now I have lunch for a few days too! Thanks Jenna!!! It was delicious, cost effective and created less work for me :)
Husband rating: 8.5 general 10 veggie (please note that Chris will never give a vegetarian meal a 10 on the general scale. He was kind of disappointed that there was no meat in this one, but once he tasted it, he stopped complaining... it was wonderful!).
lasagna noodles- cook according to package
spinach
sauce-however much you like! ( i usually use at least 2 jars cuz i like lots of sauce)
2 small zucchini- chopped
1 small yellow squash- chopped
1/2 lb. mushrooms (I chopped these pretty finely)
1 small onion-chopped fine
garlic to taste (I used 3 bulbs)
olive oil to cover
Mix all of these well and roast at 425 degrees 30 min. or until brown and tender. Or you can saute them.
2 cups cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella
1 cup parmesan
1 egg
salt and pepper
combine all of these
In 13x9inch dish spread 1c sauce. layer noodles over sauce. top half with each in order-cheese mixture, spinach, veggies, and 1/3 sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. uncover- top with mozzarella and bake 15 more minutes. let stand 10 minutes.
Husband rating: 8.5 general 10 veggie (please note that Chris will never give a vegetarian meal a 10 on the general scale. He was kind of disappointed that there was no meat in this one, but once he tasted it, he stopped complaining... it was wonderful!).
lasagna noodles- cook according to package
spinach
sauce-however much you like! ( i usually use at least 2 jars cuz i like lots of sauce)
2 small zucchini- chopped
1 small yellow squash- chopped
1/2 lb. mushrooms (I chopped these pretty finely)
1 small onion-chopped fine
garlic to taste (I used 3 bulbs)
olive oil to cover
Mix all of these well and roast at 425 degrees 30 min. or until brown and tender. Or you can saute them.
2 cups cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella
1 cup parmesan
1 egg
salt and pepper
combine all of these
In 13x9inch dish spread 1c sauce. layer noodles over sauce. top half with each in order-cheese mixture, spinach, veggies, and 1/3 sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. uncover- top with mozzarella and bake 15 more minutes. let stand 10 minutes.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Veggie chili
I try to make a vegetarian meal at least once or twice a week. It keeps us healthy :) I love this recipe because it is so versatile and you can use anything that you have in you cupboard/fridge. I'll tell you how I made it, and I will give some other options. You can be as creative as you want with it! It is so easy because you just chop some veggies and then open some cans. And you can use whatever veggies you want. Yum.
Some people don't like beans, but even so, you'll like this. Chris doesn't like beans, but he likes this recipe. He gave it 2 veggie thumbs up. Oh, and if you want to make it a little more filling, you can eat it with crackers, tortillas, tortilla chips, cous cous, noodles, etc...
Oh and hint to those of us who live in Fort Collins... the cheapest place to buy canned goods is Sunflower Market. For those of you who don' t live in Fort Collins... bummer. You should consider moving :)
Husband rating: Chris gave this one 2 ratings: 10 on a veggie scale and 8.5 on a general scale (he would always rather have beef). So that's pretty good!
Time: 50 minutes (only 15 minutes of real work though:))
Feeds: 3 or 4 or 2 with leftovers
Ingredients
- Olive oil (eye it... I think about 2 tablespoons)
- 2 garlic cloves- crushed
- 1 onion- chopped
- 1 yellow squash- cut in half and sliced
- 1 medium zucchini - cut in half and sliced
- 1/2 green pepper- chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- Oregano (about 1/4 tsp) (I always add extra spices so I used more than this...)
- Basil (about 1/4 tsp)
- Cumin (about 1/4 tsp)
- Chili powder (about 2 tsp)
- 1 can of garbanzo beans- drained
- 1 can of kidney beans- drained
- 1 can corn- drained
- 1 can of diced tomatoes- drained
- 1 can of tomato sauce
- 1 cup of veggie broth (I use Better then Boullion Vegetable Base and mix with water).
Directions:
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, about 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and continue to saute, about 5-10 minutes. Then throw in your spices and stir. Then throw in all of the canned ingredients. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to medium and simmer. About 30 minutes. Just make sure that the carrots are tender enough. Enjoy!
Variations
- You can use any veggies that you want. This is the first time that I have ever used carrots and green pepper. Be creative!
- You can also use different kind of beans. Don't have kidney beans and garbanzo beans??? Use black beans, pinto beans or whatever you do have. It's all delicious and beans are a great source of protein.
- Try different kind of tomatoes if you don't have diced... how about stewed??
- For the liquid you can be creative. What about beef broth, chicken broth or just water. Or, you can throw in another can of tomato sauce. Or skip the liquid all together for a thicker chili.
- Mix up the spices- add more or less depending on your taste.
Does anyone have other suggestions or ideas????
Some people don't like beans, but even so, you'll like this. Chris doesn't like beans, but he likes this recipe. He gave it 2 veggie thumbs up. Oh, and if you want to make it a little more filling, you can eat it with crackers, tortillas, tortilla chips, cous cous, noodles, etc...
Oh and hint to those of us who live in Fort Collins... the cheapest place to buy canned goods is Sunflower Market. For those of you who don' t live in Fort Collins... bummer. You should consider moving :)
Husband rating: Chris gave this one 2 ratings: 10 on a veggie scale and 8.5 on a general scale (he would always rather have beef). So that's pretty good!
Time: 50 minutes (only 15 minutes of real work though:))
Feeds: 3 or 4 or 2 with leftovers
Ingredients
- Olive oil (eye it... I think about 2 tablespoons)
- 2 garlic cloves- crushed
- 1 onion- chopped
- 1 yellow squash- cut in half and sliced
- 1 medium zucchini - cut in half and sliced
- 1/2 green pepper- chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- Oregano (about 1/4 tsp) (I always add extra spices so I used more than this...)
- Basil (about 1/4 tsp)
- Cumin (about 1/4 tsp)
- Chili powder (about 2 tsp)
- 1 can of garbanzo beans- drained
- 1 can of kidney beans- drained
- 1 can corn- drained
- 1 can of diced tomatoes- drained
- 1 can of tomato sauce
- 1 cup of veggie broth (I use Better then Boullion Vegetable Base and mix with water).
Directions:
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, about 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and continue to saute, about 5-10 minutes. Then throw in your spices and stir. Then throw in all of the canned ingredients. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to medium and simmer. About 30 minutes. Just make sure that the carrots are tender enough. Enjoy!
Variations
- You can use any veggies that you want. This is the first time that I have ever used carrots and green pepper. Be creative!
- You can also use different kind of beans. Don't have kidney beans and garbanzo beans??? Use black beans, pinto beans or whatever you do have. It's all delicious and beans are a great source of protein.
- Try different kind of tomatoes if you don't have diced... how about stewed??
- For the liquid you can be creative. What about beef broth, chicken broth or just water. Or, you can throw in another can of tomato sauce. Or skip the liquid all together for a thicker chili.
- Mix up the spices- add more or less depending on your taste.
Does anyone have other suggestions or ideas????
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Who couldn't use some yummy ideas?
Have you ever asked yourself "what should I make for dinner tonight?" I think we all have. Our lives are so busy and sometimes dinner is our last priority. It is so easy to wait until the last minute, and then you end up going out to grab something quick to eat or you throw a frozen pizza in the oven; but these options are never satisfying!
So, this blog is meant to give us all some new ideas about what we can do to give our families delicious and nutritious meals without too much hassle. I will share my ideas, and I would love it if you all could share your ideas too! Now who can argue with that???
Bon appetit!
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