Sunday night, we all got together for a delicious dinner, Just Dance 2, and finished the night with chocolate fondu. This night went down in my book as one of my favorites, probably because of the video I’ve uploaded here. Check it out.
I made Sweet and Sour Chicken this week. I was kind of nervous because I hate cooking with chicken. I’ve just had to many bad experiences with it and so usually I cook it until it’s burned and dry. But I decided to buy the expensive Tyson bag of chicken breasts and give it a go again. This recipe is very easy and tasted great, better than the take-out chinese places around here, plus a lot cheaper!
Last week I made this quick and tasty casserole for dinner. There was enough leftovers for the whole week!
1 1/3cups Original Bisquick® mix (I actually used the healthy heart Bisquick and it turned out well)
1/4 cup water
2 eggs cups s
1 1/2 shredded Cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
1 pound ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup Green Giant® Valley Fresh SteamersTM frozen mixed vegetables
1. Heat oven to 400oF. Spray 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray. Stir Bisquick mix, water, eggs and 1 cup of the cheese in medium bowl; spread in pan.
2. Cook beef in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain. Stir in soup and vegetables; heat until hot. Spread over batter in pan.
3. Bake 23 to 25 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 1 to 3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
(Makes 8 servings)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 bag (12 oz) milk chocolate chips (2 cups)
1 ½ cups chopped nuts, if desired
1 teaspoon vanilla
Variations (NOT used in lab, but fun at home):
Super Rich Fudge: Add one ounce unsweetened baking chocolate with chocolate chips. Mint Fudge: Use ½ chocolate chips and ½ mint chips
Peanut butter Fudge: Use ½ chocolate chips and ½ peanut butter chips.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and continue to boil for about 14 minutes. Mixture is ready if a small amount dipped in cold water instantly turns hard/brittle.
Immediately pour into a 9×13 metal pan or large cookie sheet. Do not scrape edges or else the candy will become crystally. Drop a handful or so of milk chocolate chips across the pan and then spread across once melted. Top with pecans, if desired.
Let the candy sit in room temperature (or in the fridge if neccessary). Break candy into small, bite size pieces.
I made these Caramel-Sticky buns a few weeks back because we were having a few couples over one Sunday evening. They. Were. Delicious. When I was making the caramel, it looked so good that I tried to taste it while it was cooking, which led to a burn on my tongue for quite a while. So, I wouldn’t recommend doing that, if you try the recipe.
I think I might have already posted about this, but since I have the pictures now, I’m going to recap. One night I got the idea to make homemade cupcakes instead of buying one from the Cocoa Bean. I found two recipes on Martha Stewart’s website and thought I could do both at one time.
The first batch’s recipe was called Hi-Hat Cupcakes. They looked quite adorable but mine did NOT turn out like Martha’s. At all. First of all, we don’t have a mixer. I really really need one considering I bake all the time. But it’s one of those things where we don’t really need it, so it’s hard to justify to buy one. Anyway, the icing required stiff peaks (I practically made marshmallows by hand). You have to mix the dang sugar and egg whites for more than ten minutes over the stovetop. And since we don’t have a mixer, I used a whisk. I gave up around minute 12, and that’s why mine looked like this:
Instead of this:
Yeah, completely different. And the chocolate never hardened either. But they still tasted pretty good.
Next was a Chocolate-filled cupcake. They were okay. Nothing to brag about though.
The moral of the story is that we should leave the cupcake baking to the professionals. If you think you can make cupcakes better than Cocoa Bean, you’re wrong. If you actually try it, you’re wasting your time.
Wow wow wow.
I came across this Vegan blog today and they had a Halloweegan Index (I’m not a vegan or a vegetarian, but I was intrigued by the post). Here’s what I found.
[slideshow]
To view these recipes and more, visit the Wing-It Vegan blog.
This past weekend, T.J. and I drove down to St. George with our friends Heidi and Sean. Friday night, we wanted to go to the St. George temple, but we got to town too late. Instead, we drove around the whole town searching for a place to eat. Sean brought one of those coupon entertainment books, so we wanted to find a restaurant with a coupon.
The first place we went to was supposed to have scones or something, which sounded wonderful. But it went out of business. Then the next restaurant was supposed to have 30 types of cheesecakes. I was thrilled about this place and was picturing something like the Cheesecake factory. It turned out to be a bar attached to a bowling alley. It wasn’t a bar and grille though, it was just a bar with a few bar stools around pool tables. We stuck out like sore thumbs as BYU students.
Next, we tried to hit this Italian place where we had a coupon for a pizza. The restaurant it was supposed to be had a different name, so we thought we might as well give it a shot, but the boys were too embarrassed to ask if the coupon would work.
Like I said in a previous post, I really am turning into my mom because I obviously was not embarrassed to ask about the coupon, especially if we would get a discount from asking. So Heidi and I went in and asked if the coupon was still valid even though the name of the restaurant changed. The hostess told me no and I got kind of embarrassed and said while walking out the door,
“Oh, sorry, it was just for a scavenger hunt.”
(It’s like the time my mom said, “Oh, sorry, we’re from Kentucky…” But that’s another story…..)
Anyway, we ended up at this great Thai place called Benja Thai. I highly recommend it, especially the sticky rice dessert with mango and coconut sauce on top. Delicious. Also, it inspired me to learn how to make curry. Does anyone have any good curry recipes?
I am a firm believer in this little mantra, too. Three kids...April 30, 2017 - 9:00 pm by Carlee
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I love the calendar! Great work, TJ.March 30, 2017 - 8:47 pm by Jeanette
