Busy Busy Busy!!!

So as you may have noticed, my posts have been scarce this week!  At the first of the year, I took on a new role at my school and now not only work with Emotionally Disabled Students, but I am teaching computer for part of my day.  That makes for a much busier schedule and I have been just trying to find a perfect balance!!  One day I hope to have my own Elementary Classroom. . .That is what I would call LIVING THE DREAM.  As things are right now, I still want to continue my blogging, but I think it was composing far to much of my time.  Basically I took too much on my plate all at the same time!  My new goal is to blog several times a week rather than every day.  We often eat fairly late because we both have to travel a ways to get to and from work, so it becomes tiring to drive, work, drive back, grade, make dinner, do dishes/picking up around our apartment, and THEN blogging!  As I try new things I will be sure to include those and things that are tried and true but new to you too!  Thank You for reading and I hope you will continue to check back with me periodically!!  Hope you have had a spended week and enjoy the upcoming weekend.  Seems to finally be some SUNSHINE in our future! 

Super Bowl Sunday Sunday Sunday!!

So we just had a few snack like things for dinner and enjoyed the evening with my Father-in-Law. . .I'll be honest, I'm always watching the Super Bowl for the snacks and the commercials.  UNLESS, my Indianapolis Colts are in.  Then, it's another story!!! :)  Now, on to what sort of goodies I made today!  First I made pickle roll-ups.  If you have no idea what these are, you are missing out.  At most family functions these baby's are fought over.  My aunt is usually in charge of bringing them, and she can hardly get in the door before she is being swarmed!  They are SOOOOOO easy, its ridiculous.  All you need is some Buddig Beef, Turkey, Chicken, etc; dill pickle spears, and cream cheese.  See, already easy!  All you do is lay out your slice of meat, spread room temp cream cheese on it, and roll it around a pickle.  DONE.

 

The next thing I "made" was a fancy meat and cheese tray. . .Don't Judge!!  I'm cheap and easy! ;-) And yes, we were having some fancy beverages!  My hubby's choice was Jack & Coke and I was having a Margarita!  It was 5 o'clock somewhere!!

 For our main staple of this shin-dig, I made my mom's famous Frontier Sandwich.  It's so easy and so delicious.  Here is what you need:

• 1 Loaf Italian Bread
• 1 pound of ground beef
• BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 chopped green pepper
• 1 jar or can mushroom slices
• 12 American cheese slices

You first need to get your hamburger, onion, and green pepper cooking together; once the beef is nice and brown, drain and put back into the pan.

 After you have done that, place your mushrooms and BBQ sauce in.  The recipe calls for 3/4 cup sauce, but I just eye ball it to make it nice and covered.

While you allow the BBQ mixture to heat back up, cut your loaf of Italian Bread long ways, clean out the middle, and lay 6 slices of American cheese on the bottom.

After the mixture is hot, spoon into bread and layer the remaining 6 slices of cheese on top.  Make sure you are using American cheese. . .it has the perfect melting properties for this sandwich!!

Once you have it all in the bottom, place your bread lid back on and wrap it up in foil.  It needs to bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Thats it!  I also baked some buffalo chicken boneless bites; we can't have a superbowl party without "wings" of some sort!!

Here is the final product!  It is really yummy and easy to make.  It also can feed 4 or 5 easily for a simple dinner.  We don't have it very often because it does make a whole big sandwich!!  And yes, I did have ONE healthy option along with this not so good for you dinner!  My mama taught me right :)

 

Hope you stay warm and have a blessed week!!

Happy Sunday!!!

 





Pizza Grilled Cheese

So something we used to have all the time in school growing up were Pizza Grilled Cheese. . .aka Pizza Bobs!!  They are so simple and even more delicious!  You butter your bread like you would for a grilled cheese and then you place slices of mozzarella and pepperoni in between!  Grill it up like the original and dunk them in pizza sauce.  Best. Things. EVER.  I also cut them into cute "fingers" so they are easier to handle :) 

 

WOO HOO!  Tomorrow is Friday!!

Roasted Chicken

Ok, here it is. . .whole chickens wigg me out!!  However I thought it was time to be brave and see if I could master roasting one.  So I tried it!  I bought the chicken at my local meat market and went to town!  I poked holes all over and stuffed them with quarters of garlic cloves.  Then I threw some garlic, lemon wedges, and fresh thyme in the center cavity.  I tucked the wings behind the chicken so they didn't burn during baking and I tied the legs snug together with some string.  After I put it in the roasting pan, I smeared some butter all over the skin (because I think that's what Paula Deen would do!!) and sprinkled some salt and pepper on it.  THAT'S IT.  I put it in a 350 degree oven and baked it for an hour and a half.  Now here is where it gets a little dicey. . .my recipe said to cook it to 180 degrees.  I did that.  Or I think I did.  Where I checked it, in 2 places, said that.  Perfect.  Pulled it out and tented for about 15 minutes under some foil.  It looked fantastic!  I started to slice it up and BAM.  NOT DONE.  Well some of it was but the rest of the some of it wasn't.  Tears.  I'm not sure what happened and why it was a disaster, but it was.  Also my hubby started walking around saying "cluck cluck"  He's so loving, isn't he?!?!

So the moral of this story is, I'm not prefect in my cooking adventures and sometimes I need a night like this to take me back to my basic cooking knowledge.  And yes, it was just a chicken.  And no, there are not any pictures because nobody wants to see that hottttttttt mess!

Happy Tuesday!!

Homemade Chili

There are no other words to describe my mom's chili than KILLER.  She has made it the same way for as long as I can remember and I can't see myself making it any other way!  Its really simple and not too many ingredients!

Here is my starting line-up:

 What you need:

• 2 pounds hamburger; browned and drained
• 2 cans mild chili beans
• 2 cans light red kidney beans
• 2 cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 regular can tomato sauce (not the tiny one!)
• 2 packs of Chili-O original seasoning mix
• 2 onions, chopped
• Large can of tomato juice (in the juice aisle!)

First you need to cook and drain your hamburger.  I also like to rinse mine before I put it back in my pot so it gets more grease off of it!

 

I then add all the beans, onions, tomatoes, and tomato sauce on top of the hamburger.



 I try to give it a pretty good stir and then add my whole can of tomato juice.

Once that is all mixed up, I add my 2 packets of chili-o seasoning.  Make sure you get that mixed in really well!!

It should look like soup at this point, but needs to cook for a couple hours simmering in order to get that perfect chili flavor and texture!

Once its been cooking for awhile, it is ready to eat!  I made some cornbread to have along side it and added cheese on mine too!  The hubs likes his with crackers :)  You could really have any toppings you prefer!

This recipe can easily be cut in half.  I made the whole recipe because it is something we will be able to eat several times this week!  Everyone knows that Chili is ALWAYS better the 2nd and 3rd day!  We like to eat it over spaghetti and pack it for our lunches!  I hope you'll give it a try, and change it up as you desire.  This is a pretty mild version and there is plenty of room to spice it up.  If my Daddy had it his way, our mouths would still be on fire from eating chili because he likes it hot hot hot!! (Thanks Mom!!)