1 store, 2 weeks, and 12 new recipes...week 1

Let me start by saying that I have 2 types of people in my house. Picky eaters and those with "rules" about food. I'm a rules person. If it isn't the right color, smell or texture I'm not eating it. And I'm a huge fan of Food Network. Since I've been out on maternity leave, I've watched ALOT of Food Network. It's turned into a lot of fly by the seat of my pants dinners, which is not budget friendly. So I am trying to keep to my new recipes all year long resolution and a budget. My first week, I did ok. But I'm going for great.

Here are the links to the original recipes I tried last week. Funny thing about me being a rules eater, is that I don't particularly care for rules...and I don't follow recipes all that often. So I'm going to tell you what I did differently or what I should have done differently also. Some of the recipes had things in it that I knew would not fly at my house, so I made those changes. Some I just thought would taste better with chorizo (because what doesn't??). But it's always nice to know where the original recipe came from.

Crockpot sliders: http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2011/02/recipe-for-3-envelope-crockpot-roast.html#axzz3CB0ykfXC

French Toast Rollups: http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/french-toast-roll-ups/

Chicken roll ups: http://inspiredreamer.com/chicken-roll-ups/

Cajun chicken pasta: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/cajun-chicken-pasta/

Taco Meatloaf: http://cocinandoconalena.blogspot.com/2010/12/taco-meatloaf.html

Salmon Foil Packets: http://www.caloriewarrior.com/garlic-parmesan-salmon-asparagus-foil-pack/

My absolute favorite recipe from this batch was the crockpot sliders! If I can find a way to make the "packets" without all the sodium this will be a regular recipe that is used in my house. The only change I made was I didn't use the picante sauce (well and cheese). And I didn't miss it. I used Kings Hawaiian bread rolls cut in half, buttered and pan seared. I also am not a huge fan of swiss, and needed cheese for other recipes and lunch sandwiches, so I bought sharp cheddar and pepper jack. I had provolone in the fridge. I liked the 2 white cheese the best, Daniel liked the cheddar the best. Any of the cheeses were fine, this recipe is amazing!!

I will not make the French toast rollups again. They were ok. But they were a pain in the butt. And for just ok, I'm not exerting that energy again. But I followed the recipe exactly...then made regular french toast.

Now for the rest of them...

Chicken roll ups- I boiled 3 chicken breast in water with chopped onion, minced garlic, salt, pepper and italian seasoning. You can add carrots and celery if you like because you can strain out the onion and garlic and have homemade less sodium broth for other recipes. From there I followed the recipe how it was written. This one was ok also. But it is easy and has the potential to be great. I will add bacon to my chicken and cheese next time. And I'll make a double batch of the rolls, but will only use one can of the soup still. The soup didn't make the crescents soggy like I thought it would, until you reheated them. But it was still just a little too much. So if you're going to make this and don't want to do double the rolls, I'd only use half the can of soup.

Cajun chicken pasta-this is where you can use that chicken broth! I couldn't find the recipe when it was time to cook. So I improvised. Mine should have been called mexican chicken pasta. I heated my skillet with a little butter and oil, added chopped onions and minced garlic. I added the chicken to this and then 2 links of chorizo. In another pot I boiled and cooked the fettucini noodles. When the chicken and chorizo were cooked through, I added slices of red and green bell peppers and cooked all of it until the peppers and chicken had some char marks to it. I drained the noodles, and put them and the chicken stock into the skillet. This wasn't needed. Either follow the original recipe or scrap the noodles and eat the chicken, chorizo and peppers on chips or a tortilla with some cheese shredded on top of it. I baked my leftovers in the other half of one of the bell peppers with cheese on top of it. That, my friends, was way better than the first go round of this meal!

Taco meatloaf- I didn't use corn chips in this, and I will give it another shot with corn chips or Doritos instead of bread crumbs as my binder. I really liked the top, where the refried beans and taco sauce were, but I didn't like the bottom of this. But I'm not a big taco fan either. My kids, however, are not big meatloaf fans, and ate double helpings of this, plus leftovers. So this at least warrants another try.

Salmon foil packets- I used the recipe only as a guide to this one. It looked slightly plain as I read the recipe. And I will make this with mashed potatoes instead of asparagus next time. We're just not asparagus people. It was ok, but it wasn't great. I sent it with potatoes for lunch for the hubby and he went from "no thanks" to "that was good!" I used the ingredients and made the garlic cheese mixture. But I also cooked a link of chorizo... I layered the asparagus, a little of the cheese mixture, a little chorizo, the salmon, a lot of the cheese mixture and then a little more chorizo. The salmon and chorizo were good but didn't match the asparagus once I added the sausage. But, this was easy to cook and easy to clean since it was cooked in the foil. Win, win! 

If you use something other than chorizo to spice these up, let me know! I love a good base recipe with variations so we're not eating the same thing every week.

Mother's Day lunch

I spend entirely too much time watching the Food Network. Seriously. I watch Glee, Revenge, New Girl, and Food Network... And when it's FN time, it's all day Saturday and all day Sunday (if the TV is on), plus anytime one of the 3 shows above isn't on. I love "The Pioneer Woman" and Trisha Yearwood's show. The problem, however, is I get all these ideas of things to cook and my kids or husband won't eat half of them. So, what's a girl to do? Talk her dad into making some of the recipes for Mother's Day, of course!

I watched a particularly awesome episode of "Pioneer Woman" with a Sour Cream noodle bake. Nothing in the title even suggests my husband will try it. She served it with an awesome looking garlic cheese bread. I can't lie, the bread is what really had me sold. I thought about that bread for weeks! And who doesn't like garlic bread with cheese on it?? Let alone 3 different kinds of cheese? I wasn't disappointed. My oldest son, the one that's usually more into trying new recipes didn't like either, but my picky youngest loved both.

And of course, Mother's Day lunch wouldn't be correct without a dessert. The boys, both of which love zucchini, made my grandmother's zucchini cake. Since that's a recipe that was given to me by my grandmother I'm going to share it. The other's I'll put a link up to the website I got it from (I hope that's how I'm supposed to do it), and you should try them both.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake:

2C all purpose flour*
2C white sugar
3/4C unsweetened cocoa powder
2t baking soda*
1t baking powder*
1/2t salt*
1t ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2C vegetable oil
3C grated zucchini
3/4C chopped walnuts (optional)

for topping:
chocolate chips (I use milk chocolate because that's what I prefer, the original recipe used semi sweet)
milk

*I use self rising flour and leave out the baking soda, baking powder and salt. I'm sensitive to salt when I'm not pregnant, and now that I'm pregnant it's only gotten worse, so I skip those ingredients and you really can't tell.

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour pan. I used a 9x13 baking pan because that's what I had. My grandmother used to make it in a bundt cake pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add eggs and oil, mix well. Fold in nuts and zucchini until they are evenly distributed. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before frosting.

For the frosting (so very easy!)
Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips. Add about 1/4 cup of milk (more or less depending on consistency).
I use a saucepan on low on the stove. You can use a microwave, or a double broiler, I just have better luck with a plain old pan on the stove low stirring like a maniac.


This is cake is great! And really you don't have to tell your picky eaters that there's zucchini in it. The chocolate color covers it up if you shred it finely, and it doesn't add any texture. If you shred it more coarsely you may have a different texture. I bet it had been 10 years since I've had a chocolate zucchini cake, and it was worth the wait!

Oh! and in case you haven't seen the show, here is the website that I got the recipes for the noodle bake and the bread from. Just be careful...she's a photographer and blogger also so you may just find yourself still sitting on her blog in two hours! http://thepioneerwoman.com/

My inner foodie...and cake!

So I came across this Mudslide Poke Cake on Pinterest. It looked amazing! http://beyondfrosting.com/2013/07/05/mudslide-poke-cake/

But I don't like dark chocolate, and being pregnant I didn't want to use the liquor (because it's not added before cooking). Plus, the directions are a little off. So I decided I was going to tweak this a little. I was not disappointed!! And the boys LOVED the "pudding" that was left over!

Here is how I made mine! (also, the very first time I made this cake, I cheated because it was Easter weekend and it was BUSY!! I bought a pre made chocolate sheet cake and just added more coffee to the chocolate chip, condensed milk mixture. So if you're lucky enough to be able to get your hands on pre-made frozen sheet cakes, that's a super easy, super tasty cheat to class it up!)

My take on Mudslide Poke Cake

Ingredients:

         1 chocolate box cake (and enough coffee to replace water in recipe)

         Milk chocolate chips

         Can sweetened condensed milk

         Bailey’s Mudslide creamer

         Package instant chocolate pudding (I use 2 big boxes and my family eats the left over “pudding” for a week)

         Milk

         Cool whip (If you can find the creamy French Vanilla, I use that, but it’s limited edition)

Directions:

         Bake cake according to the instructions on box, except replace water with coffee. (I use a K-cup and sometimes I use the Cappuccino ones). Makes a 9x13” cake. Allow to cool about 10 minutes.

         While cake is baking melt sweetened condensed milk with chocolate chips. (I guessed here, and used about half a bag. You can use more or less depending on how sweet you want it. I also use a splash of coffee IF there is any left, but you can leave that step out.) Melt and mix until smooth.

         When cake has cooled slightly, poke holes all over cake with a straw or wooden spoon handle.

         Poor melted chocolate and condensed milk over warm cake allowing to fill holes. Let cool completely.

         Make pudding according to package directions, only replace ¼ - ½ of milk with the Bailey’s Mudslide coffee creamer (I bought a small creamer and was only able to replace ¼ the first time, the more creamer you use, the more it taste like a Mudslide). Whisk until starting to thicken. Add a small tub of cool whip and whisk together. Let stand in refrigerate while cake is cooling.

         When cake is cooled and pudding mixture is thick, frost cake with pudding mixture.

         Let set in fridge for an hour for best results.

I I just made this cake again in cupcake form for Teacher Appreciation week. I will try to add a picture to this later! This is my new favorite cake! Seriously, do yourself a favor and make the double big boxes of instant pudding and save it in those little to go containers (once it's all mixed in with the cool whip). We have some in the freezer still from the last time I made the cake. We haven't bought Snack Packs since!!