Spice Cake Cookies

My first encounter with a cake cookie was back in 2008 when I was pregnant with my little Edie. My sister and dad came from Vegas for a visit and my sister made a delicious batch of devils food cake cookies and they were crazy good! Luckily for me, my sister made me a copy of her delicious cookie recipe, but unfortunately up until now, I had forgotten about that recipe. Which is a shame because there is nothing quite as easy as cake cookies.

Last week in all of the excitement of The Hunger Games premiere, one of the bloggers I follow, Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen,  did a fun little Hunger Games party and recreated some of the foods talked about in the book. These cookies made an appearance at her party and I knew I had to make these myself. It must of been fate because I had a spice cake mix already on hand!

My husband just about flipped his lid when he came home and discovered I made cookies. He's all but eaten them all now, LOL!  These cookies are a great if your short on time but want something delicious and moist.  The kids can even get involved with this recipe. So if you've got a spice cake mix laying around, you should make these. Even if you don't have a spice cake laying around, pick one up and make these with your kids...or your husband. Or even just for you;  I can keep a secret ;) !

Spice Cake Cookies

Source: Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

1 box of Spice Cake Mix

1 stick butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

Coarse Sanding Sugar- I could not find this anywhere in my store, so I used granulated sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl of a mixer, beat cake mix, butter, and eggs together on medium speed until fully combined. 

Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle generously with coarse sanding sugar (or if you can't find it like me, sprinkle with granulated sugar) and bake for 10-12 minutes. 

When cookies have puffed up and edges have set, remove from oven and allow to cool on sheet for a few minutes before removing to a cooling sheet. 

Roasted Chicken with Orange and Rosemary

I love chicken dishes. I love finding new ways of inventing a chicken dish into something exciting. It's so easy to get bored with chicken and for us, chicken is one of our main proteins we get as a family so it's important that we don't get bored with it.

Originally this recipe was a combination of two different recipes. I first flagged this recipe in one of my Food and Wine cookbooks. But then Rachael Ray did a similar recipe on her show and I wanted to combine both of their ideas into one recipe that worked for the flavors and ingredients I already had on hand. Luckily, the ingredients were very similar pantry staples that I always have on hand.

The Food and Wine cookbook called for a whole chicken to roast (which I didn't want to do) and for nectarines (which aren't in season right now) and Rachael Ray's recipe called for naval and blood oranges and for bone in cuts of chicken, which I had stashed a few leftover pieces of fryer chicken cuts from back when I made my Chicken and Dumplings recipe, and I added a a few pieces of chicken breast to the dish too.

In a matter of about ten minutes, dinner was prepped and in the oven and soon my whole house smelled like citrusy chicken. Actually, it smelled like someone had opened a window and let spring into my home, which was such a welcome aroma since it had been raining. 

This chicken dish is so flavorful and bright and was such a wonderful way of taking some of the flavors of the in-season produce and letting them shine. This recipe was a hit and both Josh and the girls agreed that they would love for me to make this again and again! 

Roasted Chicken with Oranges and Rosemary

Source: Adapted from Rachael Ray

4-8 pieces of bone in chicken cuts or boneless skinless chicken breast

kosher salt

Extra vigin olive oil for drizzling

Black pepper

2 navel oranges, 1 sliced, the juiced

2 blood oranges, 1 sliced, the other juiced

3-4 stems rosemary, finely chopped

6 bay leaves

1 tsp red pepper

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup honey

Wash and dry chicken and sprinkle with kosher salt and refrigerate for a few hours. 

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.  In a roasting pan or casserole dish, toss sliced oranges and bay leaves with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and push oranges to the sides of the dish, making room for the chicken. Drizzle the chicken with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle the red pepper, rosemary, salt and pepper over the chicken. Pour the white wine into the dish, along with the juice of the oranges and pour the honey over the chicken and around the dish. 

Roast for 45 minutes until the juices run clear. Serve the chicken with the oranges, with the pan juices spooned over. 

Tuesday's Tidings!

1. I saw "The Hunger Games" on Saturday! It was incredible, amazing, so worth all the hoopla that circulates around it! I'm already convincing my hubby to take me to see it again!

2. My oldest daughter Gracie is leaving me on Friday to travel to Washington with her grandparents to visit her aunt. I miss her already. Somebody, hold me! *Tear*

3. This is Josh's last week at his branch before he is working about a mile and half from home! I'm so excited that I might just start running up and down our streets banging pots and pans!

4. My cat has found a new place to hang out in our kitchen.

She rules the roost!

5. Eden, ( my youngest) has told me that not only does she want to grow out her hair like Rapunzel's, but that also she wants to be a princess when she grows up.

Somebody, please tell me what kind of princess dresses up like this. Should I be concerned, lol?

6. It snowed again last week. Grace made a snowman.

The snow is gone now and I have a very sad pathetic little carrot hanging out in my backyard now. It's kind of sad when you think about it.

7. Josh and I watched the Mad Men season premier last night. It was awesome. I'm singing "Zou Bisou Bisou" in my head now all the time. In the shower, tying my shoes, to my kids. They think I've lost it..."Zou Bisou Bisou..." I wish I could sing in French. *sigh*

8. Josh and I went out to dinner at P.F. Chang's Saturday night. We got those little shots of dessert. O-M-G...those are so good! I wish I could ordered like 40 of those little itty bitty desserts!

9. Josh surprised us all Sunday night by buying Lofthouse cookies. There are two left. Does it make me a bad mom if I were to eat the last two and deny my kids the cookies? Yeah, I thought so too. I was just dreaming out loud anyways.

10. "Zou Bisou Bisou" :)

Weekly Menu 3/26-4/1

How was everyone's weekends??? Did it rock your world?? My weekend rocked my world too! Josh and I got a rare date night. Not that we're desperate of date nights, but when they happen it is nice to have the alone time together.  The weather cleared up for the weekend. In fact on Saturday, it got up to 70 degrees! I had forgotten what 70 degrees felt like. My cute little niece turned 2 years old this weekend and we celebrated with her and her momma made some A-dorable cupcakes. I wish I would of snapped a picture of them, they were so darling! And I did a little shopping. Long story short- My mom bought this really cute dress and I fell in love with it and I forced her asked her to pick me up one too since I had a gift card that I had been hanging onto too. So she did, I got it home, it was the right size, but it hung weird on me, big in some areas and just right in others. And then after playing with multiple shoes and other accessories, it just wasn't working. It looked so much better on my mom than me!!! So I returned it and got a really cute frilly girly dress and it fits great and all my shoes work with it! Now I'm happy!

This week is spring break week, however Grace and I are still working on school to get her caught up. She'll have some days off the following week too, so I'm not to worried about it, I just want her caught up. This is also Josh's last day of work at the Salem branch before transferring to the bank that is a mile and a half away from our house. BAM! Some of the dinners will reflect our crazy week. Josh is slammed at work and I'm headed back to the gym after to many weeks off due to being sick and other things.

Monday

Josh's Egg Mc Muffins with fruit

( roll over from last week)

Tuesday

Balsamic& Brown Sugar Pork Chops with artichokes and roasted parmesan potatoes

Wednesday

Black Bean Chili

Thursday

Penne Pasta with sun dried tomato cream sauce and garlic bread

Friday

Chicken Peanut Sauce served with rice

(rollover from last week)

Saturday

I'm not sure about Saturday...

Sunday

Homemade Pizza night

Grace is leaving later this week with her grandparents to go visit her aunt and uncle, so that's why I'm a little unsure about our dinner plans at the end of the week. Grace is such a good eater and I hate to make things I know she enjoys so normally we end up winging it whenever she's gone. 

Desserts and other goodies

Spice Cake Cookies

Sweet Peach Cake

Chocolate-Oatmeal Chewies

I think it's been quite some time since I've posted a cookie recipe. I've been meaning to catch up on my baking, but between being sick and being on vacation, time slipped away. But here is such an easy cookie recipe - and it's really yummy, too!

I didn't always like oatmeal cookies growing up. I take that back - I hated oatmeal cookies. It seemed as though every time I ate an oatmeal cookie, I would find a raisin in it. We all know how much I despise raisins. I blame my mom, not only did she make me eat prunes as a little girl, but I was made to drink prune juice, too! I think that if my brother had never spilled the beans that raisins were really little prunes I may be fine today and wouldn't need therapy. But, alas, I do know this little bit of information, and therefore, I hate raisins! Anyways, back to this cookie - which doesn't have raisins in it, thank goodness!

This cookie is a cookie I can appreciate. It's got crispy edges, but so soft and chewy in the middle. And it's so thin too! Like so thin you could slide it under a closed door. Trust me, I tried it. Don't believe me?? You calling me a liar??

Did I mention that these cookies are hard to stay out of? I think I fool myself into believing that they are super duper healthy because they have oats in them. But really, who cares, right? I mean if you're eating cookies, chances are none of us are thinking about calories. We're all just thinking YUM! So if you're in a cookie rut and you need and want to try a different kind of oatmeal cookie, this here is your man, or woman. *sigh* I need help in the humor department. Oh well! Make these and they will bring a smile to your face even if my corny comments don't! :)

Chocolate-Oatmeal Chewies

Source: Betty Crocker's Cookbook Bridal Edition

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg

2 2/3 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Beat sugar, butter, milk and egg in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or with a spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients. 

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake 10-12 minutes or until almost no indention remains when touched in the center. Cool 1-2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet and onto wire rack. 

Mac and Cheese with Roasted Chicken, Goat Cheese, and Rosemary

What person doesn't like macaroni and cheese? It's such an American classic that it's impossible not to love. It seems to be one dish that is constantly evolving and always becoming something better than its predecessors.

For there to be a successful macaroni and cheese, it has to be creamy, cheesy, and flavorful. And this pasta is just that, except, it's so much more than that!! This is what I like to call Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese. No, that's not right. Well it is, but this is what I picture to be Grown Up Macaroni and Cheese. If they could package this stuff up and sell it in a blue box, I would be buying it by the cartfuls! It's that good.

In fact, this dish is so good, both of my kids gobbled it up, and since there were still a lot of leftovers, I proceeded to eat it for lunch the next three days! (Jealous - Ed.) I may have gained a few pounds for that there weakness, but the pounds in exchange for the heavenly bites I took were so worth it! The goat cheese makes all the difference in this dish, and though goat cheese in this household is what I like to call a luxury item, I lucked out when I went to the specialty cheese bin and found two packages of goat cheese on markdown for a smidge of the normal price. Granted the cheese was covered in the some delicious herbs, but I just scraped that part off, and I've been munching the leftover herb-y goat cheese when I feel slightly snacky.

I firmly press upon you to make this dish. It's the worth the extra dollars to make and worth the extra pounds you might put on when making this. C'mon, live a little. The gym will still be there tomorrow and if  you're anything like me, make a side salad when you make this dish. A side salad always seems to make the guilt/calorie ratio go down a little bit easier, haha!

Mac and Cheese with Roasted Chicken, Goat Cheese, and Rosemary

Source: My Baking Addiction

1 TB vegetable oil

1 lb dried rigatoni

1 quart heavy cream

2 TB chopped fresh rosemary

1 clove fresh garlic, crushed

8 ounces goat cheese

2 cups shredded chicken

salt and pepper to taste

Place a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a rapid boil. Add the oil and rigatoni to the water and cook according to the package, 10-12 minutes. 

While waiting for the water to boil, pour the cream into a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the rosemary and garlic to the cream and bring to a simmer. Be careful not to let it boil over. Allow the cream to reduce by about half. 

Stir in the goat cheese and chicken and continue cooking, till the cream coats the back of a spoon. 

Thoroughly drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the sauce. Coat the pasta with the sauce and simmer on low for a few minutes. Serve hot.

Tuesday's Tidings!

1. Today I'm taking over my husband's job of teaching Grace her math class. Out of all the classes in school, math was the subject I hated the most. Which means if I'm teaching math for Josh today, I must love him a lot to put myself through this torture again.

2. Eden tried to burn the house down during math. She had placed one of our pillows against the fireplace and I smelled something burning. Luckily, I have a great nose that smells everything. My pillow on the other hand is slightly grilled and smells like smoke...but all is well!

3. Hunger Games this week! Be there or be square!

4. I'm jealous of all my fellow foodie bloggers who keep talking about about their beautiful grilling warm weather. Please send me some warm sun!

5. I'm still tired, can I go back to bed PUHLEASE!!!!

6. Grace won a lava lamp this past weekend. She's been collecting tickets from a pizza and game center for months now trying to save up for a lava lamp she wanted. Finally this weekend, she got enough tickets. And now she has a cool pink lava lamp in her bedroom. I have to admit, I'm kind of jealous, I wanted a lava lamp when I was a kiddo too. I'm thinking about having a sleepover in room just so I can spend some time with her lava lamp. :)

7. Josh went grocery shopping for me on Saturday because I wasn't feeling good. He forgot to buy butter. BUTTER! It was there on the list and he forgot to buy it. I almost had a heart attack! Butter makes everything better, kind of like bacon!

8. Josh and I watch Mad Men on netflix and am I the only one who still wishes we could dress as if it was the 50's and 60's? All the men looked so dapper in their suits and they all wore hats and the woman looked glamourous in their dresses with gloves and matching purses. I loved the fashion from that era!

9. I just read that Michael Bay is remaking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. C'mon, why do people have to go and mess with the classics!

10. All I have to say is they better leave Ghost Busters alone or I'm going to have a real problem!

Weekly Menu 3/19-3/25

It snowed again this morning!! It snowed last week and then again this morning. This is very odd weather for us this time of year. But I will take the snow over the rain. It's about this time of the year that Josh and I start feeling a bit squished by the grey clouds. Btw- is it grey or gray? Someone tell me what the difference is because I'm to lazy to look it up.

Spring Break starts next week and this year Grace will have two weeks off! As a homeschooling mom, a break is music to my ears! Especially since we've fallen a little bit behind due to vacation last month and being sick a few weeks ago. I've had Grace doubling up in all of her books to get her caught up before Spring Break arrives, which has meant a lot of LONG school days. Normally, when we start it takes us a few hours. But we've been doing school till 2 or 3pm some days and I'm beat by the end of it. But we've done some fun projects and Grace is doing very well. So I can't complain.

Monday

Shepard's Pie with a side salad

Tuesday

Roasted Garlic Chicken with Red Potatoes with peas

Wednesday

Penne Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce, Garlic Bread

Thursday

Chicken Peanut Sauce with rice and salad

Friday

Sausage, Mozzarella, and Basil Pizza

Saturday

Date Night- Josh and I are going to go see The Hunger Games and go to dinner, I think P.F. Changs!

Sunday

Josh's Egg McMuffins - Roll Over from Last Week's Menu

Not sure about Dessert this week, Josh did the grocery shopping and forgot to grab me some butter which I'm out of for baking. So until I get to the store to pick more up, baking is out :(

St. Patricks Day Chocolate-Mint Parfaits

I'm not sure if I've celebrated St. Patricks Day since I was a kid. I was that girl though that didn't like wearing green just because it was St. Patty's Day so if someone ever went to pinch me, I was like waving my finger in their face saying," Uh-uh, I'm wearing green eyes. YOU can't pinch me!" It annoyed a lot of kids and I still got pinched. So I guess that finger waving didn't help my case to much huh?!

BTW- how do you celebrate St. Patricks Day. Is there a particular way you celebrate? Is drinking green beer how most people celebrate?? I've never celebrated that way...probably because A) Beer isn't my thang and 2) I have kids; so the desire and time works in my favor, lol! But if your like me, and not sure how to celebrate, I have just the thing for you. Celebrate with a dessert the whole family can enjoy. Not only is this Chocolate-Mint Parfait super easy, but super yummy too!

Speaking of super easy, you can use a box pudding mix or like I did because I didn't have boxed chocolate pudding on hand, I made my own and it took no time at all, which the recipe is printed below!

Chocolate-Mint Parfait

Source: KraftFoods.com

1 pkg (3.9 oz) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

2 cups Cold milk

1/4 tsp Peppermint Extract

1 cup Thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

6 drops of Green Food Coloring

Beat pudding mix, milk, and extract with whisk for 2 minutes. 

Whisk COOL WHIP and food coloring until well blended.

Layer pudding alternately with COOL WHIP in parfait glasses. 

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Source: Taste of Home

Yield: 6-8 servings

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup baking cocoa ( I used Dutch Cocoa, it's what I had on hand)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups milk

2 TB butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt, gradually add milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir of 2 minutes. Remove from heat;  stir in butter and vanilla extract. Chill until serving! 

Slow-Cooker Chili with Beans

It's hard to believe that Spring is almost here. Just this last week, the temps dropped and we woke up to snow. Snow, in March! Crrazy! If it's still snowy and cold where your at, then I've got just the dinner for you- Chili, that you can make in the crockpot!

I promise, I can't cook a meal without our kitten jumping up on the kitchen counters trying to sniff and taste test everything for us. She thinks she's a person. Luckily, she was just sniffing the pot of chili, she didn't lick it or paw at it.

This chili is my mother in law's recipe and it's really good, but I had to go and change it up just a little bit.  And I always like to make extra, because it's so nice to freeze or use in another meal somehow.

So if you need a really easy throw together meal-this is your guy! Make some chili this week and don't forget the cornbread. My husband can't eat chili without it!

Slow-Cooker Chili with Beans

1-2 lbs. ground beef (most of the time I use ground turkey breast to make it healthier)

2-3 28 oz cans tomato sauce

2-3 TB chili powder

1 15 oz can kidney beans

1 15oz can pinto beans

1 green bell pepper, diced

Cook meat in a skillet over medium-high heat. While meat is browning, combine tomato sauce chili powder to crockpot. When the meat is done cooking, drain if needed and add the beef to the crockpot. Add the beans to the crockpot and simmer on low all day. 

Tuesday's Tidings!

1. Josh and I finally got around to watching "The Help" this past weekend. O-M-G...I cried, I laughed, I got angry, and I became proud! This movie is life-changing. I can't wait to read the book now.

2. Everyone, Stop and drop whatever it is your doing and go out and buy The Pioneer Woman's Second Cookbook- I'm drooling and coveting it right now like crazy! I can't wait to run out and buy mine!

3. I'm convinced that Daylight Savings is out to kill me. All morning I was going by the one clock in our whole house that was not set for the correct time. When I finally realized my mistake, I cried, screamed and threw some pillows around. My bedroom is a big scary mess right now!

4. My husband is finally getting transferred to manage the Banking Center in our town. You know what that means??? Every day he gets to come home for lunch. We're saving a lot, and I mean A LOT of money in gas, and it also means my husband will have more time with our little family. I'm so happy I wish I could stop crying because my mascara is ruining my face!

5. We got a new patio set. Well, new to us I mean. My parents bought a new set for their backyard and offered us their old one. Do you know how happy this makes me??? We no longer have to drag out our dining room chairs to our patio now for our kids. We can entertain outside more now! I can't wait for Spring! Here's a Looky Looky at our new to us set!

6. School starts back up today. We took a week off because we were sick and now we're behind. :( I hate, despise being behind :(

7.  One of my friends posted this on their FB wall yesterday...

It made us laugh!

8. I'm so tired of the rain. *Sigh*

9. I want a nap!

10. Snooki's pregnant...I'm saying prayers for that child as I write this.

Weekly Menu 3/12-3/18

We are all FINALLY feeling better! It was a rough week and from what I hear, we aren't the only family dealing with cold and flu season. Several other families in our church have been very sick too. Grace and I still have an annoying lingering cough, but other than that really, we're all back to normal!

Josh and I finally took advantage of our Kitchen Kaboodle gift card that we got for Christmas and bought some fun kitchen things. Josh got his egg rings he's been wanting. I got some biscuit cutters that I had been wanting. And we crossed off a proper salad bowl on salad tongs off our wish list. We bought a really beautiful salad bowl with some tongs and I can't wait to make a salad with it now! Now, I need to get my immersion blender...but I'm thinking that the closer it gets to spring, I might just end up waiting till Fall when it's more of a soup season; seeing as thoughI rarely make soups in the summer.

Monday

Mac and Cheese with Roasted Chicken, Goat Cheese, and Rosemary

Tuesday

Soy and Garlic Wings with baked potatoes, and salad

Wednesday

Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup and rolls

Thursday

(Awana Night)

Turkey Shepard's Pie with Salad

Friday

Me and the girls having dinner with my parents- Josh has a charity dinner he's attending. 

Saturday

Josh's Egg McMuffins with Bacon

Sunday

Chicken with Mustard Gravy, Corn, and maybe rice

This week, I'm making snacks for the Awana kids again, and I'm not sure what I want to make. I'm still searching around for something that sounds good to me.  I'm going to make cookies for Josh's lunches and muffins for the girls I think. 

Desserts and Snacks

Oatmeal Chocolate Chewies

Blueberry Lime Muffins

Something delicious for the Awana kiddos

Butterscotch Brownies- I still want to make these from a few weeks ago

Slow-Cooker Three Beans and Sausage

This is one of my old standby slow-cooker recipes. I could assemble this meal with my eyes closed, it's so easy. I've been making this meal since Grace was a baby and now she is nearly 8 years old (Eeek)! I came across this recipe back in the day when I was given a subscription to the Taste of Home magazine and I was thrilled when I came across this recipe because I was just beginning to use my crockpot. It's been a favorite in our household ever since.

Not only is this dish flavorful and easy, but extremely frugal too.  I love it, my husband loves it, and more importantly, my kids love it, too!

Three Beans and Sausage

Source: Taste of Home

1 1/2 pounds smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15 1/2 ounces) great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup water

1 can (8ounces) tomato sauce

2/3 cup chopped celery

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 tsp minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried thyme

Hot Cooked Rice

In a 5qt. slow cooker, combine the first 12 ingredients. Sprinkle with oregano and thyme. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 4 1/2 hours or until heated through. Discard bay leaf. Serve with rice. 

Pasta with Tomato and Bacon Sauce: Crazy Cooking Challenge

Crazy Cooking Challenge #7

Spaghetti

Oh boy, I knew I was in for a challenge when this month's crazy cooking challenge presented us with spaghetti. This has got to be one of my husband's least favorite meals.  To him, spaghetti is boring. And when I found out that there were limitations on which kind of pasta we could actually use I gritted my teeth. Josh was NOT going to be excited about this month's challenge at all. Suddenly, I wasn't gearing up for the cooking challenge, I was geared up for a whole new challenge. A challenge in finding a Spaghetti that would have my husband crawling on the floor for more!

So I searched the internet for hours, for days even; scoping out and analyzing different recipes, different ingredients until I found THE ONE! I stumbled across a blog called," Kitchen Riff" with the promise of a tasty pasta with...wait for it...BACON in it! Yes, you heard read me right. I said," BACON!" Bacon makes everything better!

This pasta sauce was delicious and surpassed it's promise of being tasty! It's a simple enough sauce, but with the flavor of the added bacon and red pepper, it takes this dish to a whole new level! Though, I can't say Josh was crawling across the floor for more, he did go back for seconds and say that he would make this again, but with penne noodles (which are his favorites).  I'm looking forward to adding this recipe to my collection, and as far as my more personal challenge for this meal went, I would say I won! There is nothing boring about this spin off of a classic dish!

Pasta with Tomato and Bacon Sauce

Source: Kitchen Riffs

1/2 lb bacon sliced into pieces no more than 1/2 inch wide

1 cup onion, peeled and diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper 

2 tsps dried oregono

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 lb pasta

Grated Parmesan or Roman cheese for garnish

Slice bacon, place in frying pan and cook on medium heat, stirring from time to time until cooked until your desired doneness, about 10-15 minutes. 

While the bacon is cooking, dice onion and garlic. Using a dutch oven, pot, or sauce pan with high edges, heat olive oil till hot and add in the onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Turn heat to medium low and sauté until onion is soft, stirring occasionally . 

Add red pepper and oregano and stir into the mixture for about 30 seconds before adding the tomato. Add the bacon into the tomato mixture, and for a more intense bacony flavor, add 1 tablespoon of bacon fat to the sauce. 

Simmer the tomato sauce on medium-low heat for 20-40 minutes. About 15 minutes prior to the sauce being ready, cook your pasta according to the directions on the package. When the pasta is done cooking, reserve about 1 cup of hot starchy cooking water to thin out the sauce if needed. 

Drain the pasta and add pasta back to the pot. Add sauce to pasta, and if the sauce is to thick, add some of the starchy water to thin it out a bit. 

Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese 

Tuesday's Tidings!

1. My cat thinks she's a person. Every time I start to cook she's jumping up on the kitchen counter and trying to sniff/ eat whatever I'm doing. Friday, she tried to eat the Chili I was making in the crockpot.

Saturday morning, she stole a lone blueberry that fell off one of my daughter's bagels.  She is endlessly entertaining I tell ya!

2. This past week Jennifer Garner and Ben Afleck had their 3rd baby- A boy after 2 little girls! There is hope for my parents yet that at some point the streak of grand-daughters will be broken. ( They have 5 grand-daughter's so you can see why they are concerned, lol)!

3. Target recently started carrying Rachael Ray products, this could possibly be the death of me!

4. We're all sick here except for little Eden. Nothing makes me sadder than when my kiddos are under the weather.

5. My 3 yr old is addicted to Adele- all day long she runs around the house singing," Someone like you, Rumor Has it, and Rolling in the Deep." I'm thinking about making a video of her and sticking it on youtube.

6. Am I the only one who gets emotionally involved in Soap Operas???

7.  I'm getting cavities filled later this week- I'm considering taking Benadryl to help knock me out before the visit and ask for laughing gas to help ease my pain.

8. I'm thinking about binging out on sweets before my dentist appointment :)

9. Is it Spring yet?

10. The Kardashians drive me crazy!

Weekly Menu 3/5-3/11

I had a whole menu planned for today. I had it all written out Saturday morning and then I started feeling sick, sicker, and even more sick. By the time Josh got home I was miserable. My body ached, I had a headache that wouldn't let up, and a cough that left me gasping for breath. Not fun! But the weather was so beautiful outside (for once) and Josh didn't want to let the opportunity of nice weather pass him by so he was going to work in the yard and I mustered up the energy to help him out. Which I think was a bad idea on my part, after cleaning out so many weeds and game planning with Josh about our backyard, I was exhausted and had chills and felt even worse. 

Grace woke us up in the middle of the night not feeling good and by Sunday morning, Josh was sick too. Which made me even madder because it was again a beautiful day and we were all stuck inside. Since, we were all sick and cooking felt like to much work, we got broccoli cheese soup in bread bowls and Mcflurries to help with the soreness from our coughs and started watching Hugo-which is kind of an odd movie, but we're only 30 minutes into it. At any rate, the kids ended up going to bed early...like way early- they were both falling apart and Josh and I watched Titanic. 

It's Monday morning and I was up at 5:30am...which for any of you who know me, you know that me waking up before 8:00am is a rarity and Josh has been seen off to work, I've eaten breakfast, and I'm waiting for the Excedrine to kick in since we're out of all our other cold meds. This is one of those days that I'm wishing I had bought that celery and onions at the grocery store last week. I would of made Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner tonight instead, but I have leftovers I can roll into another meal so I guess that works well too.  I hope you all are managing to not get sick!

Monday

Chili Con Queso Mac

Tuesday

Chicken with Blood Oranges, Baked Potato, and Veggies

Wednesday

Josh's Egg Mc Muffins with fresh fruit

Thursday

Spiced French Toast

Friday

Soy and Garlic Chicken Wings, baked potato, and carrots

Saturday

We have a dentist appointment...so we shall see! I would say dinner depends on the appointment and if we're all feeling well enough to go to the appointment. 

Sunday

Chimichangas

If there is going to be any baking going on this week, it will be later on in the week when I'm not so sick. 

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken

When we got engaged, Josh and I registered for a crockpot. I didn't really realize what I was registering for. I didn't know much about the crockpot. All I knew was that my mom fixed her french onion soup in it and I didn't like french onion soup, so I didn't really know what it did. But, I registered for one anyway. If I had known then what I know now, I would have registered for a more expensive and slightly bigger one than the one I started out with. But, oh well, I've upgraded since that one, and only fallen more in love with my crockpot since. 

I remember my mom explaining to me what the crockpot did in my second year of marriage, and how I could use it to my benefit as a young mother who was also working very part time. This Cheesy Chicken recipe was one of the first slow-cooker recipes I ever made, and it's so good and easy that I just keep using it!

Cheesy Chicken

Source: 101 things to do with a Slow-Cooker Cookbook

4-6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

2 cans Cream of Chicken

1 can Cheddar Cheese Soup

1 tsp dried rosemary

Place chicken in crockpot. 

In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. 

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. 

Serve over rice.