Measoning

I love to cook.  Unfortunately, with my work schedule the way it is, I only find the time to make dinner on the weekends.  During the week, the kids eat leftovers, and then kind of fend for themselves with cereal, sandwiches, and frozen pizzas.

On the weekends, I really do try and put forth effort into making a nutritious, delicious meal.  I cook a lot of chicken.  In fact, last weekend was the first time in a really long time that I cooked beef.  I made a delicious London Broil, with potatoes, corn, and cheese biscuits.  The problem with cooking chicken all the time is finding different ways to prepare it.  I usually buy bottled seasonings, and kind of stir fry the chicken with it in a little bit of olive oil.  It always turns out pretty good, but I would love to buy individual spices and make a blend of my own, I just don't know enough about them to know which would taste well with which.  Did that just make sense?

If you use a blend of your own seasonings, you should submit it to Measoning.com.  This site allows users to submit their spice recipes, and they pick the best ones and post them on their site. Others can go and rate the recipes, and then Measoning.com picks the best recipe and has it bottled and sold for one month.  (the winner will receive royalties) After four months, they will pick the best recipe those four recipes sold and make it an official Measoning, with the winner receiving royalties.

If you do submit a recipe, make sure you come back here and tell me.  I really want to try them all!

I Love Cooking With Organic Olive Oil

I have been trying really hard to cook better meals for the kids and I since my husband left.  I used to cook this Parmesan chicken recipe, but you have to fry it in a shallow pan, so I have stopped making it.  It was also Bob's favorite meal, so that makes it easier to not make it.  When I was making it, I used a blend of canola and olive oils to fry with.  I would have used just the olive oil, but that stuff is a tad expensive.

I want to start using more organic foods, but they can be expensive, too.  I know the fruits and vegetables that are grown organically are healthier than those that are not.  I have seen organic olive oil in the grocery store, but I have yet to buy some.  I have two big bottles of regular extra virgin olive oil that I need to use before I buy the organic stuff.

I need to find some new recipes, too.  I cook a lot of chicken, and preparing it the same way every time gets boring.  Do any of you have a recipe for chicken that is healthy and tasty?  I prefer simple recipes, but I am willing to try anything once.

This Chicken Parmigiana Recipe Sounds Delicious

We eat a lot of chicken around here, mostly because I like it, but also because it is easy to prepare and healthy for us.  The only problem I run into is finding different ways to prepare it.  The kids have their favorites, and I love making them what they love.  But some nights, I just want to do something easy.  I found this chicken parmigiana recipe and it sounds fairly straightforward.  

Check it out:

Ingredients

• 6 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 C. Italian bread crumbs
• 1 C. parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C. milk
• 8 oz. flour

Directions
Dip chicken breasts into flour. Mix egg and milk Together. Dip chicken breasts into egg mixture. Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together. Bread chicken breasts. Deep fry to a dark golden brown. Microwave for 6 minutes until done. Serve on spaghetti noodles with you favorite sauce and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

The only thing I am unsure of is microwaving the chicken after it is breaded.  I would think that doing so would take away some of the crispness.   When I try out this recipe, I will probably pound the chicken thin so that it will cook through while being fried. 

I actually make a version of this using only parmesan cheese, and I shallow fry the chicken in a olive oil and canola oil mixture.  I have never served it over spaghetti, though.  I need to remember to do that next time.

Beef Stew With Rice

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hormel Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am the queen of easy meals. I really do enjoy cooking, but doing full meals every day is sometimes a little overwhelming. I always have a few "safety items" in my pantry for those days that I just don't feel like cooking. I am sure we all have things like spaghetti sauce and mac and cheese stashed somewhere, because these are things the kids love, and they are easy to make.

My kids favorite easy meal is Dinty Moore stew with rice. All I do is open a can of stew, and throw it in a pot. I heat it on medium low (so it doesn't burn on the bottom) while I boil water for rice. I use the ten minute rice, so that means within fifteen minutes I have supper on the table. It really doesn't get much easier than that.

You can find lots more recipes that you can make using hormel products by visiting their recipe section. There is one recipe in particular that I can not wait to try. It's called Valley Fresh Chicken and Broccoli Casserole. It looks really simple to make because it uses canned chicken, and it sounds delicious. I am a big fan of canned chicken. It is what I use when I make chicken salad. And my chicken salad is yummy. Just ask my kids.

I am looking forward to seeing how many of these recipes my kids will eat, because using these tasty products will definitely make dinner preparation easier.

Springpad

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Springpad. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love finding recipes online. This is a new thing for me, because it is only recently that I have decided to try new things. I am a creature of habit, and that held true for my food as well. I was scared to try new things, and one day I realized that I might be missing out.

Turns out I was.

Now that I am trying new recipes, I need a place to keep track of it all. This is where Springpad comes in. In a nutshell, Springpad is a free online personal organizer. I recently opened an account with them, and am feeling my way around the sight. From what I see so far, when I find a recipe I like online, I can add it to my profile. This is great because I am known for trying a recipe, loving it, and then when I want to use it again, I can not find it. Having all of my favorites in one place will make it so much easier. I can even upload pictures of the dishes I make, which is pretty cool. I mean, you all know how much I love taking pictures. Oh, and I can also make a weekly meal plan, and create my shopping list at the same time. How cool is that?

Right now, Springpad is giving you the chance to win $100. All you have to do is check out their bloggers favorite recipes, and when you add the ones you like to your recipe box, you are entered to win the money. It's that simple. You should Check out Springpad and enter the contest. I am going to be adding lots of recipes to my recipe box, so I should have a good chance of winning that money.

My Meatballs

I want to thank Rebecca and Wanda for offering me their meatball recipes on my last post. They both looked so yummy! I really want to try both recipes, but this time I used Wanda's recipe. Rebecca's recipe called for a dutch oven, and I had no idea what that is! Thankfully, she explained it to me, so next time I am trying her recipe.

Here is Wanda's recipe:

1- pound ground beef (1/2 pork and 1/2 beef)
1- cup of Italian Bread Crumbs
3/4 Cup of Grated Italian Cheese
1- Clove garlic cut up small
2- eggs beaten
salt and pepper to your taste

Mix all together, add about three tablespoons of water to mixture to make it soft. Mix well. Form into small balls and fry in olive oil until nice and brown. About ten or fifteen minutes on each side.

I did change just a few minor things. I only had beef, so that's all I used. I added parsley and oregano, because I had regular, not Italian, breadcrumbs. I had thee pounds of meat, so I tripled the recipe, and ended up adding a cup of milk, instead of the water. I also baked the meatballs, instead of frying them. Here is what it looked like before we mixed it all together:
Here's my helper, who was not at all happy that she had to get her hands dirty.

Here's the finished product! They look yummy, don't they?

I can honestly say they tasted as yummy as they look! Thanks again Wanda for this delicious recipe!