My Favorite Meal

Tuesday night I finally made Mostacholi!  This is one of my absolute favorite meals, and it's so easy to make.  Of course I forgot to take a photo until after I had served it, but you get the idea.  :)  Sorry it looks kind of gross.  I promise it tastes good!

Mostacholi

Recipe courtesy of my mother  :)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 box of mostacholi/penne noodles
• 26 oz jar of spaghetti sauce (I use Prego)
• 1 cup (?) mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cook pasta as directed on box and drain.
3. While the pasta is cooking, brown ground beef and drain.  Add the entire jar of sauce to the beef and simmer while the noodles finish cooking.
4. Mix pasta and sauce mixer together in an oven safe dish.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

That's it!  We usually have a ton left over when it's just Ryan and me eating, so I only made half the recipe this time.  I made the sauce for a whole recipe, but froze half of it to use the next time we have this for dinner.  I only used a quarter of a box of pasta and used a smaller dish.

Tonight I will leave you with this:

The largest grape I have ever seen!  It was bigger than my thumb!!!

I Think My Pants Are On Fire!

Yep, I lied to you again.  I'm very sorry I didn't make mostacholi tonight, but how could I resist my husband when he offered to take me out to dinner to celebrate my first day in the new office going well?  We went to our go-to Monday night restaurant, Antonios, for half-off pizza.  Once again I ate way too much garlic bread, but it was worth it.  :)

Swiss Steak

Tonight we had Swiss Steak.  Even though it's one of the easiest meals I make, it tastes pretty darn good!  AND I finally remembered to take a photo!  Please feel free to virtually pat me on the back.  :)

I know I've already posted the recipe once, but what the heck...it's so easy, I'll post it again!

Swiss Steak

Recipe courtesy of my mother

Ingredients:

• 1 lb cubed steak
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1/4 can water
• 1 small onion, sliced in rings

Directions:

1. Brown the steaks in a pan and transfer to a slow cooker/crock pot.  
2. Pour the can of stewed tomatoes over the steaks. 
3. Add water, about a 1/4 of the tomato can. 
4. Add onions to the top and let cook on high for 3 hours.  If you're putting this on while you're at work, put your cooker on low.

We paired our Swiss Steak with mashed potatoes and carrots.  Yes, I use instant potatoes and canned carrots.  We have no complaints here, and this takes even less time to make!

Tomorrow we're having mostacholi.  This is probably my favorite meal that I cook for us, and it's also super simple!  Do you sense a theme here??

Stuffed

Quite literally too.  This weekend I have not cooked at all, but have managed to stuff myself silly.

It all started Friday afternoon when I treated myself to Panera Bread for lunch in celebration of my last day of work at my current office.  I'm transfering to a new office on Monday which does not have the luxury of a Panera right next door.  I figured Panera and I needed to have one last hoorah.

Then, I met my friend Sarah for dinner at Sean O'Callahans in downton Plymouth.  Neither of us had been there before, but I highly recommend it!  I had the BLTT (bacon, lettuce, tomato, and turkey) and ordered an appetizer (1/2 off!) of spinach and artichoke dip.  Both were wonderful!  After dinner, we decided that we hadn't stuffed our faces quite enough and went down the street to Kilwin's for some ice cream.  I got a kiddie cone of Maple Walnut.  To.Die.For.

Before we left Plymouth, I also managed to puchase a small table.  Kind of weird, I know.  There was a going-out-of-business sale at one of the stores on Main St, and I couldn't pass up this adorable table.  I just loved the little fence detail around the top.

Before I bought the table, I felt like I was living out of my car since it was packed with everything I was bringing home from the office.  When I added the table, the transformation was complete.  My car did look like it belonged to a homeless person!

However, my car wasn't quite packed enough.  I realized that I had left my nameplate at work.  Ugh.  I did not want to have to drive back out there, but I really wanted my nameplate!  My wonderful husband drove me back out to the office, and we found ourselves in the McDonald's drive through ordering a vanilla shake and apple pies.  What???  Seriously, I do not want to think about the large number of calories I ate yesterday.

Today was no better.  I took my husband to the going-out-of-business sale this morning to look at a mirror I liked.  It ended up being to small for the wall we wanted to hang it on, so we decided to check out this great store out by my parents' house called Sweet Annie's.  On our way there, we swung by yet another McDonald's for lunch.  I don't remember the last time I've ate so much fast food!  We didn't find a mirror, but we picked up these awesome candle holders!

After Sweet Annie's, we stopped by Big Boy for dessert with my mom.  I had a slice of strawberry pie, a sip of Ryan's chocolate milk shake, and a bite of my mom's Hot Fudge Ice Cream Cake.  We topped off mty weekend of gluttony with dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Amigos.

Needless to say, I will be cooking the next few days.  Check back for swiss steak (I know I've blogged it before, but I promise I'll take photos this time.) and mostacholi.

Strike Two!

This post has nothing to do with food or cooking.  It has to do with drugstore.com and how they've struck out again with me.

A few months back, I needed some more of the Paula Dorf eyeshadow I love.  I found that on drugstore.com, it was about $1 cheaper than other places and I could get free shipping.  I excitedly placed my order and patiently awaited delivery.  UPS delivered my make-up to me at work, and I couldn't wait to tear open the box and see the new colors I selected in person.  To my horror, I found a box full of condoms and lube.  That was so NOT my order.  Some guy from NY was sorely dissapointed with my order of eyeshadow.  Actually, who knows?  Maybe he was just as excited with my color selections as I thought I would be.  To drugstore.com's credit, they immediately sent out my correct order with overnight shipping.  All was well.

Fast forward to earlier this week.  I was running low on the moisturizer my dermatologist recommended.  I purchased my current jar from his office, but I found it on sale at drugstore.com for $2 less!  I bought two containers and some more Paula Dorf eyeshadow.  (Yes, I needed more.  That stuff is awesome!)  The package was delivered today, and I once again eagerly tore into the package.  Thank God I didn't find anymore condoms and lube, but I did shove my hand directly into lotion.  The stupid container exploded during delivery.  Ugh.  Now I have to call them and send it back.  This is getting old. 

Thankfully, my eyeshadow was intact!

Do I dare give them another chance?

It's Taco Time!

I made tacos for dinner on Sunday in order to use up the half can of diced tomatoes we had leftover from our meal on Friday.  We actually got two meals out of the tacos - we had them again tonight!

Taco Night

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (or chicken or turkey)
• 1 pkg taco seasoning (I used Meijer brand or whatever is on sale)
• taco shells/tortillas/tortilla chips
• diced tomatoes (or salsa)
• shredded cheese (I used Meijer brand Mexican mix)
• shredded lettuce
• sour cream (Neither of us like sour cream, but I imagine someone out there does!)

Directions:

1. Brown meat and drain the fat.  Follow directions on the taco seasoning package to prepare taco meat.
2. Serve with all the trimmings!

I like to eat my tacos with soft tortilla shells, and Ryan likes to make a sort of taco salad with tortilla chips. 

It would be an understatement to say that this was a super simple meal.  The most time consuming part was probably browning the meat and shredding the lettuce. 

I won't be blogging as much in the upcoming days.  We are having pizza tomorrow, and I'm going out to dinner with some friends on Friday.  I may cook on Thursday, but it'll probably be something I've already blogged about like chicken alfredo or even something easier like grilled cheese.  I do plan on making mostacholi in the near future, so stay tuned for that!

This Weekend's Shopping Trip

I didn't really feel like there were awesome sales this week.  Maybe when I get paid again in two weeks they'll be better!

This week I managed to only spend $1.28!  I saved $5.36 or 80%.  I was pretty excited.  :)

Dawn dish soap 10.3 oz. - $0.99 each Walgreens coupon
- $1/1 coupon
Bought two for $0.50 each!

Musketeer Trifle bars
- $0.39 each Walgreens coupon
- B2G1 coupon
Ended up getting three for $0.26 each!

This week at CVS, I spent $12.65 and saved $18.58 or 59%.  I seem to be doing fairly well with savings at the drugstores.  I still need to do a little better at the grocery stores.  More on that in a bit...  Right now, here are the highlights from my CVS trip:

Dark Reese's PB Cups - on sale $2/1
- $0.55/1 coupon
- $0.55/1 coupon
I made $0.10!

Nestle Crunch Bar - on sale $2/1
- B1G1 coupon
- B1G1 coupon
Bought four and scored them for $0.25 each!

Country Fresh Milk 2% - on sale for $1.99
- $0.45/1 coupon
Paid $1.54 which is cheaper than the grocery stores!

Dawn Dish Soap 9.5 oz - on sale for $0.96
- $1/1 coupon
- $1/2 coupon
- $1/2 coupon
I made $0.12!

Organix Shampoo/Conditioner - on sale for $4.99
- B1G1 hang tag
I'll get one for free once I send in my receipt and the hang tag!

Between two different trips to two different Meijers and two different weekly sales, I spent $116.35 and saved $49.41 - 30%.

Pepperidge Farm Rasin Bread - on sale for $2.50

- $0.55/1 coupon
$1.95 for a loaf!

Febreze Candles - on sale for $4.99
- $1/1 coupon
- $1/1 coupon
$3.99 a candle!

Meijer Yogurt - on sale for 3/$10

Ball Park All Beef Franks - on sale 2/$5
- $0.75/2 coupon
- $0/75/1 coupon
Scored three for $2 a package!

10/$10 get 11th free promotion:
Coke/Pepsi 2Ls (13)
$12 + deposit

Minute Maid Lemonade (2)

Meijer Naturals Salsa (2)
- $2/1 Meijer Catalina coupon
Free after coupon!

Meijer Pretzels (2)

Snack Pack Pudding and Jell-o (4)

1lb Strawberries

I ended up with 24 items for $20 in the 10/$10 deal.


This week I spent $130.28 in groceries and saved $73.35 for a total savings of 36%. Not bad, but not as good as the last grocery shopping week.  I definitely got some great deals, but overall, I think I could have done better.  We'll try again next time!

It Just Felt Like a Shish Kabob Kind of Day

Lately, I've been trying to be more diligent about not wasting food.  It's just the two of us usually, so we generally end up with leftovers that never get eaten.  I attempted to use an entire package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for two meals this weekend - and I succeeded!  Friday we had Bruschetta Chicken Bake (I halfed the recipe), and Saturday night we had Chicken Kabobs. 

In keeping with the whole "not wasting food" thing, I'm saving the half can of diced tomatoes from Friday night for the tacos we're having tonight and the other half of the stuffing package for the next time we have the chicken bake.  I just wrote on the pouch what it is and put it in a Ziploc baggie.

I hadn't made shish kabobs in a loooooong time and didn't have any skewers on-hand.  When we went grocery shopping Friday night, I picked up a package of bamboo skewers and almost put them in our basket.  At the last second (yes it was literally the last second - my husband pushes the cart and doesn't like to dilly-dally at the grocery store), I spoted some beautiful metal skewers with wooden handles.  In the basket they went!

We normally just marinade our chicken in Italian dressing, but I wanted to try something different this time.  My sister-in-law used a McCormick Montreal Seasoning marinade on steak one time, and I loved it!  So when I saw Montreal Chicken Seasoning, I knew we'd have to try it. 

I just used the marinade recipe on the bottle of seasoning.  I did have to make a run to Kroger to pick up the white wine vinegar it calls for, but other than that, I had everything on hand to make the marinade.

  

Italian Herb Marinade

Coutesy of McCormick

• MIX 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon Seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Italian Seasoning.
• ADD 1 pound chicken; marinate 1 to 2 hours.
• GRILL.

That's basically it!  I added cut up green and yellow peppers and some onion.  Next time we are going to grab a red pepper (we missed it somehow) and some mushrooms.  They were pretty tasty, but I think we might go back to the Italian dressing marinade next time for the kabobs and just use the McCormick marinade when we grill chicken by itself.

Stay tuned for Taco Night!

"Make Yourself a Dang Quesadilla!"

Bonus ponits if you know what movie the title is from.  :)

Tonight I made quesadillas for the second time in about a week.  The first time, my photo didn't turn out so well, so I waited to post until I had a better one.  Ryan and I really like these and have decided to put them into regular dinner rotation.  I also think they'll be a great quick meal when/if we ever have children or have our nephews over when they're older.

Quick and Easy Chicken Quesadillas

Ingredients:

• 3-5 oz. can of chicken
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 4 8-inch flour tortillas
• 1 cup finely shredded cheese (I used a Mexican mix)
• Sour cream and extra salsa for serving (if desired)

Directions:

1. Mix chicken and salsa in a small bowl.
2. Layer two of the tortillas with 1/2 of the chicken mixture and 1/2 of the cheese.  Top each with the remaining two tortillas.
3. Cook each quesadilla uncovered over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
4. Cut quesadillas into wedges and serve with sour cream and salsa.

 

That's it!  I told you it was super simple!

Ryan actually prefers his with only chicken and cheese, so I made his and then mixed my portion of the chicken with the salsa.  I also found that I prefer to use less salsa than the recipe calls for.

Sometimes You Have To Think Inside the Box…

Today I am making desserts for our Easter celebrations tomorrow.  I am taking the easy route and making boxed cakes and brownies.  Sometimes you just need to graciously accept the help of others, and I’m accepting help from Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines!

For my side of the family’s get together, I’m making a simple Duncan Hines White Cake Mix with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.  For Ryan’s family get together, I’m making Betty Crocker Hershey’s Supreme Brownie Mix (per Ryan’s request) and a Duncan Hines’ recipe for Old Fashion Applesauce Spice Cake with a box of Betty Crocker Spice Cake Mix.  I’m only going to include the recipe for the applesauce cake because it doesn’t follow the box directions exactly.

Old Fashion Applesauce Spice Cake
http://www.duncanhines.com/recipes/cakes/dh/old-fashioned-applesauce-spice-cake

Ingredients:

Cake

• 1 pkg Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Cake Mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups applesauce
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped nuts 

Frosting

• 1 container vanilla frosting
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Glaze

• 1 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Tbls milk or cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.  Grease and flour 13x9 inch pan.
2. Combine cake mix, eggs, applesauce, and oil in large bowl.  Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes.  Stir in nuts.  Pour into pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 15 minutes.  Invert onto cooling rack.  Turn right-side up.  Cool completely.
4. For frosting, combine vanilla frosting and cinnamon.  Stir until blended.  Spread over cooled cake.
5. For glaze, whisk together confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and milk or cream.  Add only enough cream to make a spreadable glaze.  Top cooled cake with cinnamon glaze before cutting.

This time I made the cake in a Bundt pan and used the glaze.  I have made this before with the vanilla-cinnamon frosting, and it’s also wonderful!