Crispy Shoe String Potato Fries

Crispy shoe string friends!

Yum! Let's make some shall we?

I made these for Memorial Day this year, and a few times before that. These are quickly becoming a family fave!



What you'll need:
Safflower oil
Sea salt
Pepper
4 Russet potatoes

Here's what you do:
Wash and cut your potatoes. Slice your potatoes, cut them thin and leave the skin on. You can see how I sliced mine in the picture above.

Drizzle your baking pan with safflower oil, place potatoes on baking sheet. Then drizzle some more oil on top of fries and season with salt and pepper.

Safflower oil is the secret here, it's an oil made for high heat and helps make your fries crispy my friends. You can buy this oil in organic/health food sections of your grocery store. You'll thank me when they come out of the oven.

Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.



Yum, yum, yum!

Life via Instagram

Happy Wednesday friends!

How's your week been? Only a couple more days till the weekend,
and that makes me happy! 

Here's a bit of real life via Instagram.


fell asleep on the way home from a mini staycation.


dinner is served.


lunch time is easily becoming one of my fave times of the day.


decorations for a baby shower I'm throwing with friends.


hubby had a pregnancy craving one night while i was at the store,
i picked this up for him while i was there.


reading one of our favorite books.


yay, for a baby shower with a dear friend!

Gramp's Biscuits & Gravy

There's a few smells and tastes that remind me of home, and there's nothing quite like your Grandfather's Biscuits & Gravy to bring you back. They say a lot of our traditions are built around food and the dinner table, and this for sure is one of those meals. 

I grew up listening to my Gramps whistle while he cooked this dish up for breakfast for the masses. It took me a while to get it down, but after years of watching him and with a little help from the man himself I am now happy to make this for my own family. 

This is not a healthy breakfast what so ever. But it's good, oh so good. And that's all that really matters right? You can work it off later.  ;)

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. pork sausage (I like Jimmy Dean)

Milk

2 tablespoons Wondra Flour (found in the baking aisle)

Bisquick

12 inch skillet

Here's what you do:

Cook up your sausage in the 12 inch skillet, make it into crumbles like ground beef. When sausage is cooked through add your milk to the skillet, add enough milk to skim the top of the sausage. You'll fill pretty much the entire skillet at this point with milk. Stir together, and then add your 2 tablespoons of Wondra Flour. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. 

While you sausage mixture is coming to a boil prepare the biscuits using the Bisquick recipe on the box, but instead of using a biscuit cutter drop the batter by table spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for the time it says on the box, usually 10 minutes. 

While biscuits are cooking continue stirring your sausage mixture till it thickens, this process will probably take the longest. I usually hold off on making my biscuits till I see this has started to boil. You can prepare the batter but just don't throw them the oven. 

If you need to thicken your sauce still add more Wondra flour to the mixture till it's thickened to your liking. 

Plate hot, and serve. It's pretty good, you're family will love you for this one! 

Whole Wheat Pasta with Sausage & Veggies

I've been cooking a lot lately, trying new things and trying lots of new recipes. Some have been hit and miss with my family, but this one was a hit so I thought I'd share it with you. 

These flavors came together as well on the plate as they did in my mind when I was coming up with this recipe. This was one of those use "what you have already" on hand to make something yummy. Enjoy!

Here's what you'll need:

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 Kielbasa Sausage, quartered 

1 package whole wheat spaghetti

1 jar marinara sauce

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Here's what you'll do:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

In another pan cook the sausage till cooked through. Then add the peppers and onion to the same pan and cook together. You'll add the sauce next and the seasoning and stir together. Cook till just bubbly and warm. 

Plate and serve. 

Enjoy! 

Getting Out Of Our Dinner Rut

Last week I tried three new recipes for dinner. We've been in a dinner rut for a while now, eating a lot of the same. A lot of "favorites" but I felt it was time to try out some new things for dinner. There's a website a friend told me about called Skinny Taste, and I'd seen a few of Gina's recipes and they all look delicious.

Saturday I scoured her website and found three of them to try for that week. I shopped that day for the ingredients that I didn't have on had. It made me really excited to cook dinner for our family that week. Here's the three that I tried last week; I'm not going to re-post the recipes here but give you links to her website instead. GO there, she's got a ton of great food on her site.

{these are all photos from my kitchen.}

Garlic Lime Pork Chops & Cilantro Rice

This was a great one! The rice is copycat from Chipotle! And I must say IT really does taste just like Chipotle's rice. Everything about this meal was really good.

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup

I love just about anything you can put in the crock pot and forget it! Delicious as well. 

Coconut Chicken Salad

I was a little skeptical about whether or not a salad would fill us up for dinner, but this one did not disappoint! It was soooo good! Filling enough for a meal too! The perfect summer/spring salad! 

I can't say say enough great things about Skinny Taste! I can't wait to try more of her recipes.

What about you, have you tried anything new in your kitchen lately?

Sausage & Potato Soup

This is a little soup recipe paying homage to my German roots. It's a hearty soup, and a great comfort food. I make it all in 1 stock pot, and it's super easy. Here's how you can make it for your family. 

What you'll need:

1 qt/ 32oz. of chicken stock

4 medium size potatoes chopped in cubes

1 Kilbasa Sausage sliced

1 cup carrots chopped

8 oz. shredded cabbage {I buy the pre shredded stuff in a bag, makes it easier}

4 cups water

1 tablespoon seasoning salt

salt & pepper to taste {I add this in towards then end after I've tasted it, since there will be salt from the sausage & seasoning already.}

Parsley

Here's what you'll do:

Use your stock pot and on medium heat fry all the sliced sausage, just getting a golden sear on both sides. Once cooked add in your stock and water, then add the potatoes, carrots and cabbage. Stir and add in the seasoning salt. Bring all ingrediants to a boil and cook on medium heat till the potatoes and carrots are tender. 

Spoon full your bowls and add some parsley on top to garish. 

Enjoy!

Linking With: A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, Tuesday's Treasures

Simple Supper with #LaRomanella

It's no secret that this busy working Mama loves to cook! But, more so than anything I need options and things that are easy for me to fit into our lives. I love to cook, but if it's super complicated and requires things that aren't normally in my pantry then it's a no-go for this mama!

I went to Smart & Final to do my shopping, using their LaRomanella brand I searched all the wonderful options they had in the store before deciding on what to make for our meal. I decided that pasta was going to for sure be on the menu.



I was pleasantly surprised by all the Organic pasta options they had in the store all for under $2, that's a great price for a pound of pasta!


Although I am not Italian, I love a good amount of pasta and bread! We love a good spaghetti night in our home. I'm a really big fan of adding some fresh ingredients and spices into my store bought sauce and making it really yummy!

All my ingredients ready to go!

First I chopped up my onion and my LaRomanella roasted red peppers. I used 1 small onion and 1 red pepper.

Then I threw them in with the 1 pound of ground turkey, started browning it and stirred all the ingredients together till they were cooked through. 

I added LaRomanella Garlic pasta sauce to my meat mixture and let it cook through. 

While my turkey was browning, I started boiling my pasta noodles. I choose the LaRomanella Organic Penne Pasta and cooked them just under aldente. 

After it was cooked, I added the pasta to a 9x13 inch baking pan and poured the meat mixture over the top of my noodles.



Topped it with cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese, equal parts. And let it cook at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until cheese was melted.

I paired it with a simple spinach salad for my family's meal!



Here's what you'll need to make this:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 small onion
1 LaRomanella roasted red pepper
1 jar LaRomanella Garlic Pasta Sauce
1 lb. LaRomanella Penne Organic Pasta
Mozzarella, cheddar & Parmesan cheese

To see more of my shopping experience with Smart & Final visit my Google+ page here. 

Smart & Final has some awesome promotions for you as well, if you purchase La Romanella items from Smart & Final, you can go to www.smartandfinal.com/LaRomanella2012 enter the code on the receipt from their purchase of La Romanella products and be entered to win some of these amazing prizes (and let me tell you, I am *so* excited about the grand prize!): Grand Prize: Weekend trip for 2 to an Italian-inspired resort in Las Vegas (readers can enter by purchasing La Romanella products and entering code found on receipt) 8 $50 SmartCash cards (readers can enter by voting for their favorite La Romanella recipe each week) and (8) La Romanella Gift Baskets worth over $50 (2 per week given away)

Plus, visitors to the www.smartandfinal.com/LaRomanella2012 site will be able to vote for their favorite La Romanella blogger recipe. The blogger recipe with the most votes each week will win a $100 SmartCash card, so make sure your followers head on over and vote for your recipe!

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias #CBias All opinions are 100% my own. As always I do not endorse products professionally that I wouldn't personally.

Shredded Chicken Tacos {Crock Pot Style}

I don't know why I haven't shared this recipe with you yet on the blog! It's easily one of our favorite meals and we have it usually a couple times per month! It's made entirely in the crock pot, which I love since I'm a working Momma anything I can make in my crock pot that is good, is a WIN for me!

This is a really easy meal, it serves a lot of people and it's always a home run for my family and friends!

Here's what you need: (feeds 4-5 people)
3 frozen chicken breasts
1 12 oz bag frozen corn
1 can black beans
1 can Rotel (tomatoes & green chilies)
1 taco seasoning packet
1 cup chicken stock

Directions:
Throw your frozen chicken breasts (yes, frozen) into the bottom of your crock pot, then add in your corn, black beans, rotel and taco seasoning on top. I don't drain anything I just throw it all in there. Stir together, then add your chicken stock just to keep it moist while cooking.



I usually do all this the night before and then turn it on before I leave for work in the morning. Turn it on low and let it cook for 8-10 hours. It's done by the time I get home from my work day. If you're home all day too you could still do the same thing.



When I get home, I take two forks and pull out all the chicken and shred it and then add it back into the crock pot to cook together for about 10-15 more minutes.



While that's going I get all my tortillas, and toppings together. I like to use corn tortillas and bake them in the oven but you could use any type of tortilla or taco shell you'd like. I top mine with cheese, lettuce, salsa and sour cream.



That's it! Eat and enjoy! For our family of three there's always left overs and they are great the next day for nachos, tacos again or even on a salad!

If you make this let me know your thoughts and if you love it as much as our family does!

Happy Friday!

My Stuffing Recipe

I didn't cook at all for Thanksgiving, since we went to a friend's house for dinner. But, a couple days after Thanksgiving my Husband requested that I make my stuffing recipe. I had most of the ingredients on hand, but quickly ran to the store to get the rest. I make it now from memory, so I had to stop myself to write down all the measurements to share with you.

It's the best, hands down! We love it so much in our home, it's the perfect "comfort" food I thought I needed to share it with you too!

Here's what you need:

1 lb. pork sausage

1 yellow onion chopped

4 stalks of celery chopped

2 cans chicken stock

1 bag Pepper ridge Farm Seasoned Stuffing

Here's what you do:

Brown the sausage in a large stock pan, adding the onion and celery as well. Stir until meat is completely browned and done. Next add in the chicken stock and stir ingredients. Add pepper to taste, I don't add any salt since the sausage already is salty enough.

Next stir in your Pepper ridge Farm bread crumbs till they are evenly coated with the liquid mixture. Spread into a 9x12 baking dish, cook at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Top should be slightly brown and crispy.

Take out, and serve.

That's it, so simple and good! You'll probably want to make this any time of the year, it's that good.

psst....want more cooking today? I'm sharing one of my fave cookie recipes today over at The Small Things Blog with Kate! Check it out here. 

{COOK IT} Grown Up Mac N' Cheese

I saw this mac n cheese on Pinterest, I'm always looking for a good mac n cheese recipe. So I thought I'd make this one and try it.

This mac n cheese is based off of a fondue cheese made with white wine. Have you ever been The Melting Pot? This is just like their cheese fondue there.

I call it grown up mac n cheese because of that. Here's my disclaimer, if you don't like dry white wine or have never had cheese fondue made this way you probably won't like this. It has a bit of an after taste of wine, although all the alcohol burns off in the cooking.

Here's the recipe; Enjoy!

Swiss Mac & Cheese
recipe inspired by Tyler Florence

1/2 pound imported Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch nutmeg
2-3 cups cooked macaroni or shell pasta
2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 cup crisply cooked bacon, chopped

Place the shredded cheeses in a bowl and sprinkle the cornstarch over it. Carefully toss the cheese to coat with cornstarch.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a gentle simmer. Gradually stir the cheese into the simmering liquid. Melting the cheese gradually encourages a smooth sauce. Once smooth, stir in the mustard and nutmeg. Carefully add the cooked pasta and chopped parsley to the cheese sauce and fold in to combine.

To serve, plate up the mac & cheese and garnish with the crisp chopped bacon.

My Salsa Recipe

I thought it was high time I share my salsa recipe with you! I love salsa & chips! It's one of my favorite snacks. Really, I could make it a meal all on its own.

But, that probably wouldn't be well balanced.

This salsa is good, it's fresh, it's my fave!

Here's what you need:

6 tomatoes
1 bunch of radishes
1 chili pepper
1 red onion
1 yellow onion
1 bunch of cilantro

Chop everything up but the chili pepper.



Once everything is chopped up put it into your food processor and blend to your desired consistency. I like mine less chunky so I blend it a little longer.

Afterward cut your chili pepper in half. The seeds are where the heat live. The more seeds you take out the less heat you'll have. I like a little spice, so I take out half the seeds and chop the rest and add it to the food processor and blend again. I also at this time add in my cilantro and blend.

Then put it into a bowl, add chips and dig in! That's it! So yummy!

Pretty on Pinterest #2

Happy Wednesday Friends! I love mid-week, it means the work week is almost over, the weekend is coming, and getting to be home with Ava. And those things friends, make me very happy!

I've been "pinning" a lot of food ideas lately on Pinterest. I've decided that I need to start challenging myself to put some of these pinned ideas to use. Trying out 1 of the recipes that I've pinned each week. There's so much good stuff, and I love to cook and try out new foods.

Here's some of the ideas that I think will make it to my stove top soon;



Source: letsdishrecipes.blogspot.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: joelens.blogspot.com via Andrea on Pinterest

This:

Source: allrecipes.com via Andrea on Pinterest

with this:

Source: ezrapoundcake.com via Andrea on Pinterest

And we're big fans of salmon in our home;

Source: onceuponachef.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Are you drooling yet?! Hungry now? I'll let you know how my cooking adventures go, if they are hits I'll post the recipes here on the bloggy blog.

Still haven't joined Pinterest yet? I still have a few invites left, I promised you'll be hooked, inspired and thank me later!!!

Toodles! 

Easy Shredded Chicken Enchiladas

I love to cook, but I like things that are easy for dinner. I don't like to slave over a stove or use a ton of ingredients I don't know what they are or don't usually have on hand that's just annoying to me.

I digress.

I love Mexican food. Pretty much in any form. Enchiladas area easily a fave here. My mom made these growing up and they are one of my faves. For our birthdays each year we got to request what we wanted for dinner, mine was usually enchiladas and cheese cake.

This is my version of easy.

Here's what you need:
Half a Rotisserie chicken, shredded use the other half and make this.
1 can black beans
1 can enchilada sauce
1 yellow onion
1 taco seasoning packet
Soft tortillas
16 oz shredded cheese

Here's what you do:

Chop up your onion. In a mixing bowl, mix together chicken, beans, and taco seasoning.



Use this mixture to fill as many tortillas as it allows. Usually 6-8. Top with sauce and cheese.



Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes till cheese is melted but not burned. Top with sour cream and salsa and ENJOY!!

{Tasty Tuesday} Glazed Salmon

We've been eating a lot of fish in our home these days mostly salmon and talapia. I've been finding a few great recipes that I wanted to share with you. This one has become one of my faves, I've made it about 4 times now. It's always a pleaser, and tastes really good. I thought I'd share it with you. This recipe is from Real Simple magazine, I clipped it out along time ago and saved it in my recipe binder that I keep in my kitchen.



{image via realsimple.com}

Here's the recipe straight from the mag, (my additions in red) I've made this just for Orion and I with 2 salmon fillets, and cut the broccoli in half but used all the other same measurements.

Serves 4

Hands-On Time: 20m
Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 cup long-grain white rice (I've always made this w/instant white rice, and it's just as good)

1 head broccoli, florets only, chopped (about 2 cups)

4 pieces skinless salmon fillet (1 1/4 pounds total)

1 large red onion, cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges

1 tablespoon olive oil

kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

1. Heat broiler. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and soy sauce. Set aside.

2. Cook the rice according to the package directions, stirring in the broccoli during the last 3 minutes.

3. Let the rice and broccoli stand off the heat until the broccoli is tender, about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

4. Meanwhile, place the salmon and onion on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the oil and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

5. Broil until the salmon is opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes, spooning half the soy sauce glaze over the fish during the last 2 minutes of cooking. (I would watch this closely, because the glaze tends to cook really fast and sometimes can burn to the pan, I usually cook it only 8 min, and check to see if it's done.)

6. Serve the salmon and onion with the rice and the remaining glaze.

YUM! Delish!! If I wasn't out of salmon right now I'm sure we'd be having this again for dinner!

{Tasty Tuesday} Fried Rice

I have made this twice now, and it's quickly becoming a favorite of ours in the Worley House! I know so because my Hubby who really isn't that keen on anything stir fry ish LOVES this, and requested it a couple nights ago for dinner!

I've been trying a lot of new recipes lately, and I've been loving some of the new variety of what we're cookin' up! I'll share a few of my faves here on the blog.

But first back to this dish, I can't take any of the credit I got this recipe from Holly over on her blog. She made this for her family and I thought it sounded good so I gathered my ingredients and gave it a whirl. It's super simple and easy to make, my kind of dinner.

Here's the recipe from her blog: (my notes/additions in red)

Easy Fried Rice

1/2 a rotisserie chicken cut into small pieces (I saved the other half to use later for another recipe)

2 stalks chopped green onions

1/4 cup of Good Seasons Asian Sesame with Ginger Dressing (I couldn't find this so I used Kraft Asian Sesame Dressing, I've use it twice now and it's GOOD)

3 eggs

2 Tbsp cooking oil

4 servings of cooked rice

4 Tbsp soy sauce

Any other frozen veggies you want to add like peas, snow peas, carrots, corn, onion etc... (I just picked up a bag of mixed stir fry veggies from the grocery store)

This recipe is one that you can do for any amount of people. You just increase or reduce the amount of ingredients.

Some time during my day, I cook some rice in my rice cooker. You can use instant rice, just cook with chicken broth instead of water.

Next scramble your egg in 1 Tbsp of oil. Set aside. (I just moved them to the other side of the pan & added the veggies)Then saute veggies in remaining Tbsp of oil until done. Add chicken, rice and egg. Mix through. Add dressing and soy sauce (more or less depending on taste). When all ingredients are heated through you are done.

That's it! Simple and you're done! It's a pretty filling dinner. Let me know if you try this one, I'd love to hear if you like it or not!

What's for Dinner: Santa Fe Soup

I found this recipe last week on Julie's blog, we like soup here, we like spicy things too so this was perfect for us. 

I made it. 

We tried it. 

We loved it.

It's now on the dinner rotation, nuff said! 

Wanna make some too?

Here you go; this is from Julie's blog (I'll make my notes of what I did)

Santa Fe Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef/ turkey/ whatevs/ browned and drained

1 can kidney beans

2 cans Ro-tel 

(I did 1 hot, and 1 mild it was spicy use mild if you don't like spicy)

1 can stewed Mexican style tomatoes

1 can corn (drained)

2 Tbs. taco seasoning

16 0z. Velveeta cubed 

(yeah it's gross but Julie said it wouldn't work with out it, I tried it..she was right!)

Put it in your crock pot. (on high setting)

Stir together, cook for 3 hours.

Stir half way through.

Done.

 I added a can of black beans to mine

and

1 yellow onion

Crock pots are good, and so easy for dinner.

Topped it with sour cream. 

Devoured it, it was good.

YUM!


edited to add: drain both the corn & kidney beans. everything else will be good.
Ro-tel is a mixture of tomatoes, green chilis, and other good stuff you can find it in
the canned tomatoes aisle in the grocery store. 

What's For Dinner: Spicy Orange Chicken

We love Chinese food here. 

My husband loves anything & everything spicy. 

The spicier the better.

This is an easy dinner to make, here's what you'll need:

- 2 cups white rice

- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast per person (in our case 2) make this for as many people as you'd like and adapt the recipe

- Orange Juice

- Seasoning Salt (we like Lowery's)

- Cayenne Pepper

Here's what you do:

Cut your chicken into 1 inch pieces, and place in a large skillet or wok

Season generously with the Seasoning Salt

Season with Cayenne Pepper, about twenty shakes...... yes you heard me right, shake the jar 20 times over your chicken and cook till it's done all the way through. 

If you like things spicy, you can shake it more if not....STOP here; trust me it'll be plenty spicy!

After cooked through, add your orange juice till it covers the top of your chicken. Heat till boiling, then simmer on low for twenty minutes or until juice becomes a sauce. 

Meanwhile, start your rice following the directions on the package.

Then plate it up & ENJOY! 

What's For Dinner: Easy Chicken & Rice

This is easily one of my 'go to' recipes on any night of the week. It's one of my faves, adapted from a recipe that one of my college roomies Mother's made for us. This is my much easier, less time consuming  version of Chicken and Rice. 

My husband loves this meal, and well when my Hubby loves certain meals they tend to be the ones that I keep going back to. I'm gonna share it with you, hope you like it. 

Here's what you'll need:

4 bone less, skinless chicken breasts

Italian Seasoning

Salt 

Pepper

1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup

1 and a half cups White Rice

13x9 inch baking dish

Here's what do to:

Season your chicken breasts generously on both sides with the Italian seasoning, salt & pepper set aside. 

In your baking dish add Cream of Chicken soup, and two cans of water (you could also use Chicken Stock for more flavor instead of water) whisk together till soup is dissolved into the water. 

Add your rice, whisk again to mix in. 

Then add your chicken breasts to the mixture. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through. 

I always pair this with another veggie like green beans or corn and some dinner rolls. 

Eat & Enjoy! It's one of my fave comfort foods this meal. 

Stuffed Shells for Dinner

I've been wanting to make this for a while now. I remember having it while at a friend's home once. I couldn't get that exact recipe from my friend so I improvised and made up my own. I admit sometimes I don't follow recipes, and make up my own stuff most of the time. 

But, for the purpose of this I'll try to give you measurements. 

Here's what you'll need:

1 box of jumbo shells (I used Barilla)

1 16 oz. ricotta cheese

1 small package frozen spinach, thawed 

1 cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 can spaghetti sauce (any brand or flavor you wish, if you like more sauce use two, you can see the amount used in the picture.)

2 cans Swanson chicken (I used the can kind, it was easier and handy but you could also used 1 lb. cooked and shredded chicken breast or 1 lb. ground beef)

Start boiling your shells to just under al dente.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

While shells are cooking, mix all of the above ingredients together set aside. When shells have cooked drain them, and run cool water over them till they are cool to the touch. Then fill your shells with the mixture. 

Pour sauce over filled shells. Add more cheese on top if you wish.  Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes. 

Take out. 

Plate it up, pair it wish bread and a salad. 

Enjoy! 

(for variations you could also use alfredo sauce instead, or add in chopped onion or garlic)