Recipe for Today

I saw a recipe on Racheal Ray that I thought...hmmm, that looks good. So I made it. And made it. And made it. I love it.

It's basically a Caprese Quesadilla.

Fresh Mozzarella

Tomatoes

Basil (I used dried basil)

Pam

Flour tortilla

Salt and Pepper

Spray a skillet with PAM and heat over medium-high heat. Add the first tortilla and blister it 30 seconds, flip and cover half of the surface with arranged layers of mozzarella, basil and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and fold over the quesadilla, cook 30 seconds on each side to set. Remove from pan and repeat. Cut into quarters and serve.

She served these as appetizers, but I've had them for lunch twice this week.

No pic post

Today Nicholas came over to hang out with us. His birthday was earlier in the month and we were not able to attend - so we had a gift for him. Kate really likes Nicholas and talks about him all the time. She calls him on the phone, she bakes cookies for him and sings him Happy Birthday. They played well together and I did take a few pics, but they didn't come out. I made lunch for him and his mommy and I wasn't happy with my chicken salad....Sorry Amy, please come back, I will order out next time.

Or I will make these....

Lite night dinner

For dinner tonight I made a Minestrone Soup. However, this is not a good name for it. It's thicker than a soup and more tomato-y. It's super easy and I always have the ingredients on hand. I stole this recipe from a friend and have tweaked it over the years. Here is my version:

1 lb of hamburger meat, browned

1 can of ro-tel


1 large can of crushed tomatoes - 28 oz.


2 cans of minestrone soup


1/2 c. of elbow macaroni, cooked (John likes the added noodles)


1 can of beans - we leave these out.





Mix all together and simmer. You can add red pepper flakes to make it a little more spicy. You can served in a bread bowl or in my case, I made some grilled cheese out of French bread - they are small and you can eat a lot of them!

Here is a picture of the leftovers.

PS - the tomato soup will be later in the week.

Sunshine Committee

I am part of the Mom's Club in Bentonville and I'm on the Sunshine Committee which provides meals to moms who have recently had babies. I have one recipe...Chicken Pudding (that's what John calls it) it doesn't really have a name. Of course, I got it from my Mother and everyone loves it so I always make it. I did not get a picture of it to show you, but here is a picture of what Kate and Luke were doing. I put Luke in the highchair with a ton of toys to keep him busy. Kate was 'cooking' with water. She literally had it all over the floor, but it kept her busy for like 30 mins., so I just cleaned it up and went on my way.

Notice her hair net....I had one on and she needed one on too. She kept pouring her water on the towels, instead of using them to wipe the water up, she just poured it directly on the towels.

Recipe for Chicken Pudding:

4 chicken breast - baked or boiled Shredded (I bake mine and my mother boils her)

1 pkg of cream cheese

1 stick of butter, melted

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1/2 - 1 cup of Chicken broth (mother uses the broth from her boiled chicken, I use the can)

1 pkg of ritz crackers, crushed up

In a saucepan over medium heat, mix cream cheese, soups together. I add my broth in as I go to thin it out a little. Once that is mixed together well, I add in my shredded chicken. Then I put into a pan - 13x9 and put the crushed crackers on top and add the melted butter on top of that. Then put in the oven at 350 for about 20-25 mins.

Trashy Food

I found this recipe on a blog today and I made this tonight - she calls it Trashy Food. My family (ok, husband) enjoyed it.


Mexican Chicken Casserole
Serves 4-6


2 c. shredded cooked chicken


1 c. shredded cheese (or more if you are a cheese hound)


1 can cream of chicken soup


1/2 cup milk


1/2 cup sour cream


1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (canned tomatoes with jalapenos-mild)


1/2 packet taco seasoning (or more- to taste)


Bag of doritos





1. Pre-heat oven to 350-f degrees.


2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except Doritos.


3. In a greased 2 qt baking dish, put a layer of crushed Doritos (about 2 cups), then a layer of the chicken mixture. Repeat once more, ending with a layer of chicken mixture. Top with more shredded cheese, cover, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till bubbling hot. You can add other items to this, depending on your preferences, like olives, green chiles, onions, etc. The chicken mixture would also make a great enchilada or burrito filling.

ENJOY!

Brownies

I made some brownies yesterday to take over to the Robinsons. I love brownies - LOVE THEM. However, I am picky, I don't like nuts in my brownies and I like to keep them simple, just chocolate. Except for BLONDE BROWNIES. My granny use to make these when I was a kid. All her grandkids loved them, we would all fight over the last one. Granny would say the key was the pan she cooked them in. The pan has been forever lost. Sissy got the recipe from Granny one time, but it was over the phone long after she had given up cooking. I came across a recipe in Paula Deen's cookbook for blond brownies, so I made them. Not bad, but not Granny's, I will keep on practicing.

Recipe of: Not quite Granny's Blond Brownies (I renamed them)

3 eggs

8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter

One 16 oz box brown sugar

2 cups self-rising flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

One 6-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat eggs and butter together; add sugar. Gradually add flour; mix well. Stir in vanilla. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake in a greased and floured 13X9 inch sheet pan for 25-30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.