... check your ingredients before you start cooking! I let one slip by me yesterday. I made a recipe that called for chili powder. Well, lo and behold, I had no chili powder. Yikes! What to do? What to do? Well, right now, I'd like to stop and thank Al Gore for the creation of the internet. (Just kidding, folks... ) But really, thanks Sir Timothy Berners-Lee for your world wide web! Hopping on Google, I looked for a substitute for chili powder. What I found was a CHILI POWDER RECIPE!!!

Chili Powder

• 1 tsp. Paprika
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. cumin

OMGoodness! Blend them together and store them in a dry place and there you have chili powder!


And all that for this.....

King Ranch Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 2 cans cream of chicken
• 1 can chicken broth
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 12 - 15 corn tortillas
• 2 c. shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Brown ground beef and drain
3. Add tomatoes, cream of chicken, broth and spices and warm through
4. In a greased 9x13 pan, place a layer of beef mixture, top with torn-apart tortillas then cheese.
5. Continue making layers, ending with cheese
6. Bake covered for 30 minutes
7. Remove cover, bake a few more minutes until bubbly

... so I forgot to bring the recipes from last week to work today. Yeah, lovely people, I write my blog on my lunch hour! Today, I sit here eating my chicken-pot-pie leftovers from last night.... YUMMY!

I know I promised pictures... and here I go, promising again. I've been so forgetful lately. Hopefully helpful hubby will helpfully remind me about pictures! Gonna throw out my chicken-pot-pie recipe for ya. It's pretty basic, but has a few tweaks.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• Chicken tenders, boiled and shredded (don't throw out the broth just yet)
• 1 can, cream of chicken
• 2 cans, mixed veggies - drained
  
• sour cream
• Bisquick baking mix
• cheddar cheese
• milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix chicken, cream of chicken, veggies, appoximately 1/2 c. sour cream and cheddar cheese.
3. Ladle two dippers of broth from boiled chicken into mixture.
4. Mix thoroughly and spread into greased 9x13 pan.
5. In a separate bowl, mix Bisquick and milk. You'll want the consistency to be somewhere between biscuits and pancakes.
6. Pour biscuit mix over top of chicken mixture.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy! If you're looking for a quick, easy, yummy-liscious meal.... here ya go! Let me know if you make it or it you make changes. I love hearing your ideas!!

on the job! Yup... that's what I've been doing! It's been a busy, busy week, but I've been really, really unfair. I've committed to giving you all quick and yummy recipes, and I've not been holding up my end of the bargain. So that being said, I'm not overly prepared to catch you up completely today, but I will give you one quick and yummy recipe I tried this past week today, and I promise you more and more tomorrow. Oh and picture! Moving forward, I'm going to try to attach some pictures to the recipes.

Chicken Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ham slices
• Crescent rolls, large roll
• 1 can, cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Boil chicken and shred.
3. Unroll crescent roll on baking sheet. Layer ham slices, then chicken and roll into log.
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. While roll is baking, mix cream of chicken, milk and cheese. Cook mixture over medium heat.
6. Slice roll into pieces and ladle cheese mixture over roll.

I served this with mixed veggies!! Yummy-liscious!

So another weekend come and gone. BUT in the process, I found a delicious, fantastic, amazing culinary delight! But let's do this chronologically....

Friday night we had Mushroom Mozzarella Chicken... a delicious and easy dinner.

Mushroom Mozzarella Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• small onion chopped
• fresh mushrooms, sliced
• butter
• Soul Seasoning
• Mozzarella cheese
  

Directions:

In a pan, saute onions and mushrooms in butter. Once done, remove onions and mushrooms and put aside. In the same skillet, cook chicken breasts. Cook approximately 12 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear. Ladle onion and mushrooms on top of each chicken breast. Top with mozzarella, cover and cook another 5 minutes until mozzarella has melted.


Saturday, we had a late lunch out at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries... YUMMY! So for dinner, we snacked.

Sunday was a big day... we had my family over! Ok, so that's rare... not that we don't WANT them to come over. It's more that... we have cats and they all HATE cats. But we put the cats up, and they came over for dinner. It was really pleasant, and I tried a new recipe.

I fixed Cajun Tilapia (http://tossoff.blogspot.com/2011/08/brain-food.html) and a delicious, delightful, new recipe I'd found on www.allrecipes.com

Zucchini Herb Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, cubed
• 1 cup sliced green onions
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:

Combine the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, until rice is tender.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a shallow 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the zucchini, green onions, and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Season with garlic salt, basil, paprika, and oregano. Mix in the cooked rice, tomatoes, and 1 cup cheese. Continue to cook and stir until heated through. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake uncovered 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.


OMGoodness!! YUMMY! I think I had more compliments on that dish than anything else, and I am soooo making it again.

Let me know if you try either of these and what ya think about them!

... in paradise? Well, right now, at my house, it seems like a tropical island paradise - at least it FEELS like it. Last night we got home, and I started cooking dinner. There was an odd noise coming from the direction of the HVAC unit. Huh... weird. Helpful hubby went out to check it out.... and came back in with baaaaaaaad news. That sound... that grinding, screeching, annoying, generally not-good sound was, indeed, coming from the HVAC unit. Uh oh. Within 20 minutes, the sound had stopped and so had our air conditioning. Living in Georgia, losing the ac in August is a very, very bad thing! So, we made arrangements for an HVAC service person to head out today, turned the ceiling fans up and made the best of it.

For dinner last night, we did have Salmon Croquets, just like I figured! I know there are lots of different ways to make them, so I'm curious how you do it! Here's the recipe for mine.

Salmon Croquets

Ingredients:

• 1 can salmon
• 1 egg
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers

Directions:

Mix salmon, egg, onion and crackers in bowl. Pat into patties and fry in small amount of olive or canola oil.


It's funny but I always seem to make the same side dishes when I make Salmon Croquets... it's always homemade mashed potatoes and English peas! But what a yummy dinner it was. And here's my little tip on homemade mashed potatoes: add a chicken or beef bullion cube in your water when you boil the potatoes. It makes all the difference in the world!

That's it for today... hope you guys have a great day and... really, try to stay cool!

Wow... it's been a busy few days. I didn't post yesterday and I'mma be real quicklike today.

Monday night I cooked a family fave...

Easy Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

• 1# hamburger
• 1 packet of onion soup mix
• 1 can of mushroom stems and pieces
• sour cream
• egg noodles

Directions:

Brown hamburger and drain. Add in mushrooms (do not drain) and onion soup mix. When mixture begins to get bubbly around the edges, fold in sour cream to taste. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

How much easier can you get?!? I mean, maybe if you wanna make a sammich....

Last night we did Chinese buffet with my Grandma. It was yummy... and would you believe I forgot to get any meat out for dinner tonight?!? What do you guys do when you encounter this? I'm thinking Salmon Crouquets tonight. :)

Whew... I love weekends, but sometimes it seems like they are more jam-packed than the work week! This weekend was the World's Longest Yard Sale. While I admire anyone who can start at one end and go allllllllllll the way to the other, that will never be me. Brian and I did do about 20 miles of the yard sale on Sunday and I managed to score another antique typewriter - for $5!!! YAY!

Also picked up a couple new cookbooks... again YAY!!

Like always, on the weekends, we don't do anything major in the way of cooking. Friday night found us eating Fried Chicken Salads, yummy! I did make Chicken Pasta Salad on Friday night for weekend lunches.

Chicken Pasta Salad:

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• creole seasoning
• fusili noodles
• 1/2 medium sized onion
• 3 carrots
• 3 dill pickles
• 3 roma tomatoes
• Miracle Whip dressing, to taste

Directions:

Cut chicken into chunks. Saute in olive oil with creole seasoning. Boil noodles as chicken is sauteing. Slice onion, carrots, pickles and tomatoes. Mix all ingredients and toss with Miracle Whip dressing. Refrigerate for 1 hour before eating.


Naturally, you could put whatever you want in your salad; these are just suggestions. :)


Saturday night, Brian made nachos! What do you put on your nachos? I love taco meat, cheese, salsa, sour cream and jalapenos!

On Sunday, I was wanting something quick and easy. We'd been to my dad's for Brian to borrow Dad's workshop. IT WAS MISERABLY HOT! I wanted to throw something together that didn't require much time or effort.... so I made my best friend's Mexican Chicken Casserole recipe! YUMMY!!!


Mexican Chicken Casserole:

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cans cream of chicken
• 2 cans rotel
• Velveeta cheese
• Ranch flavored Doritos

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Boil chicken breasts and shred. Mix chicken, cream of chicken soup and rotel tomatoes in a bowl. Pour mixture into greased 9x13 baking dish. Cover mixture with slices of Velveeta cheese. Sprinkle liberally with crushed Doritos. Bake uncovered until cheese is melted, about 25-30 minutes.


Let me know if you try this Mexican Chicken Casserole recipe! I think you'll love it!

I, like most people, love pizza. But since the near destruction of my little town, there are no pizza places open. :(

So, here ya have....

Upside Down Pizza Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. hamburger
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1/2 c. chopped bell pepper
• 1 jar pizza sauce
• 10 oz mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 c. Bisquick
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 c. milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Fry hamburger meat. Spread in the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish. Layer onions, then bell pepper over meat. Pour pizza sauce evenly over layers. Sprinkle cheese over pizza sauce. In a bowl, mix baking mix, eggs and milk. Evenly pour mixture over casserole. Bake, UNCOVERED, for 45 minutes.


**Ok, I despise bell pepper... unless it's stuffed.... so I left that out and put mushrooms in, instead. Next time I make this, I'll probably add 1/2 lb of sausage as well.

This makes a HUGE casserole! Brian and I both had 2nd helpings last night and we both have lunch today. Hope you enjoy!

... to my very best friend! I wasn't planning to post today, but decided to go ahead and share a summer birthday cake recipe with you! My stepdaughter and I stumbled across this recipe several years ago and made it for my father-in-law.

Enjoy!

Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:

• 16 ice cream sandwiches
• 1 (16 ounce) container frozen non-dairy whipped topping
• 1 (12 ounce) jar chocolate fudge topping, room temperature
• 1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy bar, grated

Directions:

Place 8 of the ice cream sandwiches side by side in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread evenly with half of the hot fudge topping, then half of the whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and toppings. Sprinkle with grated chocolate bar. Cover and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving. Keep unused portion covered and frozen.

**I have used several variations of this recipe, but this is my favorite... although, I admit I like crushed Butterfinger on top of my cake!

Studies have said that eating fish once a week will keep your brain younger in older years. I don't know if that's true or not, but eating fish keeps Brian happy. I'm not a big fish eater... so finding good recipes is VITAL on this. I've found that I like Tilapia... it's mild enough for me. And as of last night, this is my new favorite Tilapia recipe!

Cajun Tilapia

Ingredients:

• 4 Tilapia filets
• 1/3 c. mayonnaise style dressing
• 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• sesame cracker crumbs, crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix mayonnaise and spices thoroughly in a small bowl. Dip filets in mixture and roll in cracker crumbs. Place breaded filets in 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until fish is flaky.


**I didn't use onion powder, as I was out and didn't feel like running out for some. :) Also, I used Ritz crackers rather than sesame crackers.

For sides, we had sauteed zucchini and instant Loaded Mashed Potatoes (from Aldi... DELISH!)

Chances are I'll skip the day tomorrow. We overslept today (oops!) and in my rush to get to work, I forgot to get anything out for dinner. What do you do when that happens? Tonight it'll probably be grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!

... is what it's all about! Last night's dinner was both!

Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 12 oz salsa
• cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Place chicken in baking dish. In a bowl, mix yogurt and salsa. Pour mixture over chicken and cover with desired amount of cheese. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

** I substituted taco blend cheese for cheddar, and, of course, I seasoned my chicken with Soul Seasoning.**

For sides, I cooked instant rice (in chicken broth, not water) and fried corn.

All in all a very yummy, very easy dinner! If you try it, please let me know what you think or how you improved the recipe!

So, chances are good I won't do a ton of posting on weekends. This is how our weekends usually go. Friday nights we make something quick and easy like nachos or homemade pizza, watch a movie or read and go to bed early. Why early? Well, we're bargain hunters on Saturday morning! We get up at the butt crack of dawn (trust me when I tell you this is wayyyyy worse that the regular old crack of dawn), arm ourselves with lists of garage sales and estate sales and head out. That being said, this weekend was a big score! Brian collects antique radios (for the purpose of "upcycling" them) and he managed to score a 1946 Philco radio with turntable at an estate sale. What did I buy? RECIPE BOOKS!!

So, Sunday was spent scouring said recipe books and marking recipes that appealed to me. Then turning the books over to Brian to weed out those recipes he won't eat. From that I created a menu for the next two weeks. We had found that we were nickle and dime-ing ourselves to death going to the store here and there and picking up a few things at a time, so we made a conscious decision to change our shopping habits. I would dearly LOVE to coupon, but heck... this whole blog is about time management right? And trust me when I tell you that couponing, done with any effectiveness, take a whole lot of precious time.

So, in our changing shopping habits, we started shopping at Aldi. Well, we'd shopped there some, but we started pretty much ONLY shopping at Aldi. I mean, listen... Aldi is the best thing out there! Yeah, there's a $.25 deposit on you shopping cart and you either buy your bags or use your own (ahem, it is a GREEN world out here), but my goodness at the savings!! I'm gonna list my purchases and their prices here just to give you an idea.... Let me first tell you that it's rare that we find brand name products at Aldi, but so far, everything we've eaten has compared favorably to the brand name, in a couple cases the Aldi brand has been better!

• Breaded Chicken Breast -- for the Chic-Fil-A lover, these are a must! There are about 10 in there and the price.... $4.99
• Tilapia filets -- 8 in a package.... $5.49
• (2) California medley (frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrots)... $1.09
• Boneless Chicken Breast -- 3 lbs.... $5.49
• (2) Broccoli florets -- steam in bag.... $1.09
• (3) 1# pkg 85/15 Ground beef... $2.69
• 2# sirloin tip steak... $9.14
• Fresh mushrooms... $1.49
• Large sour cream.... $1.29
• Iceberg lettuce... $1.15
• 8 oz pkg cream cheese.... $1.29
• Gallon 2% Milk.... $2.69
• 32 oz plain yogurt.... $1.79
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella... $3.49
• Garden salad mix.... $.99
• (3) Cream of mushroom soup.... $.69
• (2) Diced tomatoes with green chilis... $.59
• Refried beans... $.79
• (3) Cream of chicken.... $.69
• (3) Canned mushroom.... $.59
• (3) Broth -- 2 chicken, 1 beef...$.59
• (2) Wide egg noodles... $.99
• Cheese spread (Velveeta style)... $3.89
• Fusili.... $1.49
• (2) Taco seasoning.... $.39
• Onion soup mix.... $.79
• Frosted Flakes.... $1.69
• Instant rice..... $2.49
• Grated Parmesan cheese... $2.39
• 24 oz salsa.... $1.79
• Dill pickle spears.... $1.49
• Sweet&Salty granola bars... $1.89
• Canola oil.... $2.69
• Gourmet cookies (Toffee Caramel).... $2.99
• Dozen large eggs.... $1.19
• Pecan shortbread cookies.... $1.99
• Nacho chips (Doritos style)... $1.19
• Nacho chips (Doritos style - Ranch flavor)... $1.19
• BBQ potato chips.... $1.39
• Kettle Chips (BBQ flavor).... $1.99
• Round tortilla chips.... $1.19

My grand total for 2 weeks of dinners, snacky food and more.... with tax: $102.10


Of course, we grow a lot of our veggies and others we do buy locally at a produce stand, but you get the gist of how much you can save at Aldi!

Check back tomorrow for a new recipe or two!

Let me begin by extolling the virtues of Soul Seasoning. What is Soul Seasoning, you might ask? Oh, only the most delightful form of ambrosia I've found. It's all the seasonings that we in the South use on a daily basis rolling into one little shaker of goodness! There's salt, pepper, paprika, tumeric and so much more! I used this seasoning on everything... well, not desserts, but pretty much everything else. Did I mention that this little find is a STEAL at Fred's for $.50 a bottle??! Yesiree, Bob! So that being said, if you don't have access to a Fred's, let me know and I will indeed send you a shaker of this spicy yumminess.

Now, the reason for that post was to let you know that you can substitute the spices in this recipe by using one single bottle of Soul Seasoning instead.

Easy Chicken Marsala

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts (I prefer bonesless, skinless breast)
• salt
• pepper
• paprika
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup cooking sherry

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

Place chicken breasts in bottom of 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.

In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Pour mixture over chicken and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes.


Now, I, of course substituted Soul Seasoning for the spices and I added a can of sliced mushrooms to the mixture. The original recipe, I got from my stepmom and just tweaked it a bit to our liking.

I served this with breaded eggplant slices and white rice. 1) Can you guess what went in the batter for the eggplant slices? and 2) The creamy delisciousness of the gravy is most excellent over rice.

Let me know if you guys try this recipe and what you think. Here's how we gauge the success of a recipe at our house: At dinner, I cook enough for both Brian and myself to have lunch the next day at work. If a recipe is TRULY successful, at least one of us is dining out the next day!

Well, actually, I'm always late. Argh... it's a curse. I actually have friends who tell me something starts 30 minutes before it does just so I'll be on time. That being said, time management is something I struggle with on a daily basis. Now, mind you, we like to eat at our house... and we like to eat well. Unfortunately, a lot of eating well seems to take a lot of time, which I don't have.

Now, I choose to believe I'm not the only wife out there with this issue. There are, I'm sure, other wives who work, moms who carpool, dance lessons, soccer practice... so on and so forth, ad nauseum. Soooooooo... I decided to create a blog about it. Crazy, huh, when I'm complaining about not having enough time? I wanted to share my shortcuts and quick and easy but mouth-wateringly delish recipes with other frazzled women. Hopefully, I'll be able to do so with a bit of humor and a lot of honesty.

Don't get me wrong... it won't be ALL about food. It will be about saving time, saving money and sometimes even saving face. Bye for now! Check back tomorrow... I'm trying two new recipes tonight!