The Cook Queen!

Weekend!

Well Friday I craved a big juicy unhealthy cheeseburger and fries after that long week of spending all day in class without my child. So Craig and I went to Lotaburger and did just that. Saturday was our bi-weekly trip to Las Cruces where we indulged in Texas Roadhouse. Word of advice, if you ever live near a Texas Roadhouse ( you people in Utah DO! ) then I suggest you take the opportunity to visit it for a nice meal. I thoroughly enjoy their food. I moved here thinking I'd said goodbye to Texas Roadhouse for good, but then I learned that there's 244 of them in like 43 states or something. AMAZING! Their food is tasty good. I hope you try it and like it too! Anywho, tonights dinner was lasagna. I didn't provide a picture because well hey, it's lasagna, what's there to see. I think lasagna is a very personal type dish. I don't know what I'm trying to say but basically that most people are pretty lasagna picky or maybe it's just me, but I just LOVE my Dad's lasagna the very best. So in other words, I love MY lasagna the best now! But like I said, many of you may not like mine, because you are used to yours, or someone else's that you love. It's A ok!! No worries! We had company for dinner and I served it with a ceasar salad, texas toast (garlic toast), and a strawberry drink with fresh strawberries! If you ask for any recipe from tonight, I would suggest the strawberry recipe. It's so quenching! I call it Craig's specialty even though he didn't think it up. It's just a drink he enjoys making because he gets to use my fun little Pampered Chef fruit juicer and squeeze out the lemon juice from like ten lemons. He's fond of that! Good night!

Marinara Sauce - Slow Cooked!

Well I learned that it's best so "Slow Cook" a marinara sauce to achieve the best flavor. So SORRY folks,  I had to use the crock pot again. This recipe was super fun. I made it up myself which is always fulfilling because I didn't follow a book. You can use the marinara for whatever you want, but in this case, I just had frozen cheese ravioli's that you boil. They aren't canned so they are delicious! Anyway, this marinara sauce was kind of chunky (with tomatoes) which I like a lot and it actually had some bite as well. Almost too much for my whimpy little taste buds, but I really liked it and Craig did as well. I think it's going to take some perfecting, but right now it's still delicious. I might add or take out a few ingredients in the future to see what I come up with! Please leave your name in comments if you want this.

I served it with Zuchinni squash (which I LOVE!!) and Craig picked up some bread the other day called Garlic Naan. If you see it in this picture, it may look familiar but I don't know if you can get it anywhere, or if it was a fluke but it's soooo good. You sprinkle a little water on it and then just grill it on the stove to heat it and then I just brushed melted butter on it. It has a lot of flavor and was really good. I also made this EASY little fruit side that I surely love. It's just strawberries in syrup with cut up bananas. SOO good and it gets you your fruit serving. I try to have well rounded meals with all the food groups!

BBQ Ribs and baked potato cups

Fun Fun Fun! I LOVE easy recipes. Delicious food that takes NO work at all. Ribs are fantastic. I learned today that it's the flavor of BBQ sauce that makes the ribs. I also believe that FRESH meat is always BEST! If you buy meat, freeze it, unthaw it, etc. It seems to lose flavor versus buying it and cooking it right away. But do what you will! :) Neat can be kept in your refrigerator for a few days as well, it's not like you have to buy the ribs two hours before. The BBQ sauce I love and it tasted much better with this as opposed to hickory smoked BBQ sauce....is Hickory Brown Sugar. What is it about Brown Sugar that just makes things taste so dern (spelled like that on purpose!!) good!?!?! One time I Broiled fresh pineapple with brown sugar on it. SOO good! It's all carmely and tasty! I also used butter. You'll have to ask me more about that one if you are interested. I tried to be like "tucanos"...my favorite restaraunt of all times. They grill their pineapple with a brown sugar baste of some sort. Mine wasn't as good but I don't have the grill machines that I would need to have results like that. Anyways...ribs ribs ribs. Love em'! Crock pot ribs are convenient-and quite tasty, but I must say that the BBQ grill always brings better results.

These baked potato cups are really good. They are kind of like twice baked potatoes. I honestly just used red potatoes, cut them in half and loaded the fat on them. So some of you may not even be interested but for those who aren't calorie counters, you may be down with this~ ha ha! I loaded the butter, then lots of salt, then cheese and then baked them for about ten minutes to melt the cheese and then dolloped sour cream on when they were out of the oven. Great with any meal. I do it all the time!

By the way, those of you "established" cooks need to give input that will help ME and others, so if you are reading any of my opinions and thinking man she doesn't know what she's talking about, or it's better this way...or what not. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave your thoughts in comments. I check them all the time...and it will help me and others with their cooking. You are all FANTASTIC!!! Until next time...

Italian Pasta Stir Fry

Tonight was Italian Pasta Stir Fry. It's a GREAT meal if you are looking for something with low calories and quite healthy. It's Linguine noodles, with vegetables (Onions, tomatoes, and Zuchinni squash) and paremesan cheese w/ seasonings. So to me, it was very bland. I like something that has a thick creamy fattening sauce. My husband gulped it down though so it must not have been too bad. He said he felt like he could eat three times as he should because it was so non fattening! Something that's rare in our home! If you want this recipe, let me know...but I didn't take a picture of it.

Crock Pot Beef Stew

  Chunky potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and beef make this your classic tasty beef stew. This was a great meal that is so nice to come home to. Everything is practically done. It can be eaten with crackers, or rolls or whatever you prefer. I prepared this the night before and then plugged it in in the morning and set the time on slow cook - 10 hours and when I got home, I had a few more things to do and it was done. Try er out! Leave your name in comments for the recipe...by the way...it doesn't really take 10 hours, more like 8 and then a little after prep. Crock pot cooking is so nice to do for the day of - it erases a lot of the headache of cooking on a busy day or what not. I hardly ever do crock pot recipes, but this one is delish. I have BBQ ribs coming up - this is also done in a crock pot and my husband LOVED them!!! Enjoy! 

Southwestern Salad!!!

I haven't been very good at writing on this blog, but I also haven't introduced it yet so I guess it's ok. I have been cooking so I have a few recipes that I'm ready to start with. The other night, I went to a get together and someone there had brought this salad.   It is DELISH! Ya'll should try this one out as a salad with a "mexican" type dish. It has a tangy BBQ- ranch dressing that is super good. I tried the dressing with homemade french fries another night and it was super tasty as well. Tonight, the main dish I cooked was a Taco Ring. I have pictures of both of these items so I will upload them ASAP. The Taco Ring is a crescent ring with taco meat (w/ taco seasoning) and cheese. Then we put sour cream and salsa on it with lettuce, tomatoes, and olives - sort of like a chimichanga. It was really pretty good. Nothing you haven't tasted before. It really just tasted like a normal Taco. But it's a funner "looking" way of enjoying a taco taste I guess. Plus, I didn't even try very hard to make it look nice so it has much more potential. As well as how the recipe says to form the salad. I just mixed them up by shaking a bowl with the lid on, as opposed to laying it out in a nice fashion like the recipe calls. Leave your name in comments for a copy of either of these recipes. I'll email them to you ASAP!

Southwestern Snack Squares

This was a REALLY easy and fast dinner! They taste ok I think. They aren't the "greatest" meal ever, but they are easy and tasty for a quick dish! Would be great for entertaining. I think the reason I may have not thought they were fabulous is because I can't handle much spice, and for some reason, the seasoning in this made it super spicy. Craig really liked them!! Try em out if you wish...

I love pampered chef products, and as you all know...I sell them~!!! So if you need or want anything, please let me know. A lot of the seasonings in things I cook are pampered chef seasonings. They are AWESOME!! But you can always use something else to substitute if you don't have them, or want to get them. The seasonings are usually around $4.50 for the bottle. We have Asian, Italian (the best!!), Southwestern, etc. One of my favorites is the Dill Mix that is fantastic as a vegetable dip!!! Mix it with Mayo and Sour Cream. It's so good!!! Anyways, I figured I needed to mention my Pampered Chef finally since this IS a COOKING website! I love Pampered Chef!!!

Uploading Pictures only! :)

Jamie's birthday Cake!

Nothing to say. Just uploading the picture. This was a tasty cake that was fun to decorate!

Getting started!

I've had this great idea lately, and now I'm implementing it. Because I have really fell in love with cooking and am having so much fun trying new recipes daily...I thought I'd start a weblog about it. I will include pictures of the meals I cook, ideas for side dishes, fun desserts, and great entertaining ideas. I would LOVE any feedback I can get, but I will also be posting my own feedback from guests in my home, or guests at parties or get togethers I go to. This is just a start so I will learn as I go, but I think it should be fun. I will also include a calendar of what's to come -eventually! Join me with this fabulous meal planning adventure and feel free to comment or write me for any additional recipes, or questions you may have about my cooking. Thanks for visiting!!!