Recipe #19 - Blue Cheese Turkey Burger

My husband went to the meat shop (is there another word for that?) a couple of weeks ago and brought home some AMAZING blue cheese burgers. Given our desire to try to eat a little bit healthier, I decided I would try to make some blue cheese TURKEY burgers and see how they taste. :)

Ingredients
1 lb Jennie-O Ground Turkey
1-2 ounces blue cheese crumbles
1 tsp Worchestire sauce
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions
1. Mix all of the ingredients together by hand.
2. Divide the meat mixture into 4 even sections. Form each section with your hands into patties. I like to make mine as this as thin and uniform as possible to help decrease the cook time and so that they cook evenly.
2. I used the stove to cook our burgers, but you can use the grill as well of course. On the stove, I pre-heated the pan over medium-high heat. Place the patties in the pan.
3. Cook the patties until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees (about 10 minutes). Flip the patties over once or twice during cooking. Enjoy!

Results
Really flavorful! I used to make turkey burgers more, but they had NO taste. I would just load them up with cheese and toppings, which negated the healthy reason I was trying to make turkey burgers in the first place. I literally just placed one of the patties on a bun and ate it with just the bread, no toppings. So good! I will definitely make these again!

Recipe #18 - Chicken Taco Bake

Since neither my husband nor I had a taste for anything for dinner yesterday, I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from work, hoping to find something good to make. When I got to the store, I had the overwhelming craving for my mom's chicken tacos, but I didn't really have time to cook/shred the chicken, so I improvised - canned chicken. I know some people are not big fans of canned chicken (it's not my favorite either) but I have found when you mix it with salsa, for some reason I am ok with it. 

Ingredients
2 cans (the big ones) of Swansons premium chunk chicken
1/2 cup salsa
8 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Kraft Mexican blend cheese
Salt, pepper, other seasonings to taste

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Drain the cans of chicken and put the chicken in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. The chicken is already cooked, but I like to mix everything together over heat before putting it in the tortillas.
3. Add the half cup of salsa to the chicken and stir. You can use whatever kind of salsa you would like. I used Old El Paso medium. You can also use as much or as little salsa as you would like to taste.
4. Add your seasonings. I added salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and dried cilantro. I think the chiken in a can doesn't have a whole lot of flavor, so I tried to add some flavor with these spices and seasonings. I would say I added no more than 1 tsp of each but it was really just a pinch of this and that.
5. Once the chicken mixture is mixed together and heated through, place a decent amount of mixture in the middle of a corn tortilla. Wrap the tortilla around the mixture and place the "open" side of the tortilla down to keep it together. Repeat this until you have used all of the tortillas and mixture placing each rolled tortilla side by side. You can use more or less tortillas depending on how much mixture you want in each taco.
6. Pour all 2 cups of cheese over the top of the tacos and place the dish in the oven.
7. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted nicely on top. Enjoy!

Results
I loved this. My husband did not think it was as great. He ate it, but probably not his favorite meal. I did mash up an avocado and made some guacamole to enjoy with my tacos. That probably made a HUGE difference as I LOVE avocado and all meals that I can have with avocado. My husband does not like avocado. I will put this meal on the list of foods to make when my husband is traveling for work and won't be home. :)

Quick&Easy Recipe - Kraft Fresh Take

It occurred to me today while making dinner that while I have not made a new "homemade/made from scratch type" recipe every week, I have tried a few new quick and easy, semi-homemade recipes that I could share in case anyone else dreads the question as much as I do, "what are we having for breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack/brunch/linner/etc." :)

On the menu tonight - Kraft Fresh Take

We tried the Southwest Three Cheese flavor a couple of months ago and LOVED it, so I decided to try another flavor (and by "decided" I mean they were out of the Southwest flavor, so I was forced to try a new one). :) Maybe the secret is already out around here that this stuff is AWESOME!

This is SO easy! I purchased one package of the thin chicken breasts (about 1lb). You open the Kraft package and mix the cheese/crumbs together. Then wet the chicken (I used one egg as suggested to dip the chicken in). Finally dip the wet chicken in the pouch and place it in a greased pan and stick it in the oven! 30 minutes later I prayed that the chicken had reached the recommended internal temperature (165 degrees). When the meat thermometer read 170, I cut one piece open just to make sure it wasn't pink. (I don't have the best history with meat cooking to the right temperature in the oven in the recommended time for some reason.) No pink on the inside, good to go!

Kraft Fresh Take chicken and Skinnygirl Pina Colada w/pineapple juice

You may notice an adult beverage in the picture. For those of you that know me well, you know I drink socially at events and while I am traveling for work but I RARELY drink at home. My husband is the same way. However, recently, we heard one alcoholic drink a night is "good" for you. It doesn't even have to be red wine now according to the new research. Sold! We are trying to have one adult beverage in the evening. This is night #1 of this experiment. :) My beverage of choice this evening - a Skinnygirl cocktail. I love Bethenny Frankel! I tried the Skinnygirl Margarita a long time ago and thought it was rather strong for me (again, reference above, I am a lightweight) but thought I would give some of her new drinks a try. Knowing I might think it was strong for me, I thought mixing the Pina Colada with pineapple juice would be tasty....and I was RIGHT! Yum! :) My formula - 1 part Skinnygirl Pina Colada to 2 parts pineapple juice.

Results:  D E L I C I O U S!! My husband and I both loved this chicken. This Kraft Fresh Take makes me look like a gourmet chef (or at least better than a novice). :) We will definitely be trying the other flavors.

Recipe #15-17 Labor Day Weekend

So...it's been awhile (a few months actually) but I finally had some free time to try out some new recipes this Labor Day weekend! I made homemade taco seasoning, haystacks and one of my favorites -- Queso Fundido!!

First the good stuff...Recipe #15 Queso Fundido a la Nelson :)

It is something I was first introduced to while studying abroad in Monterrey, Mexico! I could not get enough of this stuff (served with homemade flour tortillas.) Yum! The "authentic" queso fundido is made with queso chihuahua and chorizo. Queso Fundido a la Nelson is made with the cheese I could find in my predominately non-Hispanic western suburb of Chicago grocery store and Jimmy Dean sausage. This Midwest Mexican (as I refer to my half white/half Mexican self) is happy to try whatever is available to me if it will come even remotely close to tasting like one of my favorite foods.

Ingredients
Batch #1
1/2 package Reduced Fat Jimmy Dean Sausage
1 package (10oz I believe) Cacique Queso Quesadilla (it was the only "Mexican melting cheese" the lady assisting me could find)

Batch #2
1/2 package Reduced Fat Jimmy Dean Sausage
2 cups shredded Queso Chihuahua with seasonings (I checked one other part of the store and found Queso Chihuahua but it was shredded instead of in a cube and had seasonsings, but given what I was making, I figured it was ok.)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cook the sausage according to the package.
3. If your cheese is in a solid cube/circle/square, cut it into 1 inch pieces. Line the bottom of a 7x11 baking dish with the cheese. If it is shredded, you can just spread it out evenly in the dish.
4. Place the cooked sausage on top of the cheese and spread evenly throughout the dish. (I only used half and then refridgerated the remaining for the second batch.)
5. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is all melted and bubbly.
6. Enjoy with tortilla chips, fritos or corn or flour tortillas!

Results
Delicious!!! I personally liked the second batch better, but my husband liked the first batch. So, the conclusion is you can make great queso fundido with various "Mexican melting cheeses" and sausages whether it be chorizo or Jimmy Dean. :) I will definitely be making this again. It will probably become a regular during football season!

Recipe #16 - Haystacks
This is one of my husband's favorite desserts. Given his birthday was last week, I figured I should make him a batch. There are SEVERAL recipes out on the internet. I checked out a few and then simplified it to 3 ingredients.

Ingredients
1 package chow mein noodles (about 6 cups)
1 11oz package of butterscotch chips
1 cup of peanuts

Directions
1. Melt the butterscotch chips in a microwave safe bowl. I put them in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time until they were all the way melted.
2. I then threw all of the noodles and nuts into the bowl of melted butterscotch and mixed until everything was well coated.
3. Spoon the mixture in little clumps (heaping TBSP size) onto cookie sheets. It took me two cookie sheets to use all of the mixture.
4. Place the cookie sheets with the haystacks into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Enjoy!
5. Store the leftover haystacks in the refrigerator.

Results
Yum!! They were so good that we ate them all during the weekend before I remembered to take any pictures! This will also be a recipe that will be repeated several times in our house.

Recipe #17 - Homemade Taco Seasoning

Going back to the roots of this blog, I learned on Pinterest that the store bought taco seasoning I have been using almost every single week is probably not the healthiest thing I could be serving my family. I decided to try one of the homemade taco seasoning recipes posted on Pinterest.

Recipe inspired by Homemade Taco Seasoning - Do It Yourself from www.wholenewmom.com.

Ingredients
2 TBSP chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBSP cumin
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

Original recipe also calls for 1tsp paprika and 1/2 tsp oregano, but I didn't have those in my cupboard, so I omitted them.

Directions
1. Mix all of the ingredients together.
2. Cook meat (I used Jennie-O ground turkey) per package instructions.
3. For every 1lb of meat, use 2 TBSP of seasoning mix and 3/4 cup of water. Once the meat is cooked, add the seasoning mix & water to the pan with the meat.
4. Let the meat mixture simmer until some of the water evaporates and it is the saucy consistency that you desire.
5. Enjoy the meat mixture with taco shells or on nachos (as my husband did) or in a taco salad (like I did)!

Results
It didn't taste exactly like the stuff I buy from the store, but it was definitely a good alternative. It was a little bit spicy for my taste, so I would play around with the ratio of the spices next time. There are several other recipes for homemade taco seasoning out on Pinterest and the web in general. I will keep trying combinations until I find my favorite one!

Recipe #14 - Fruity Pebble Treats

Ever since I realized how easy Rice Krispie Treats are to make, I have made them a few times! Recently I saw a recipe on Pinterest for a Fruity Pebbles variation, and you know I had to try it!

Recipe inspired by Evan's Kitchen Ramblings Fruity Pebbles Marshmallow Treats

Ingredients
3 tbsp Butter
1 10 oz bag mini marshmallows
6 cups Fruity Pebbles

Directions
1. Grease a 13x9 inch pan.
2. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large pot.
3. Add all of the marshmallows and stir continuously until the marshmallows have just about melted.
4. Add the Fruity Pebbles and stir well until they are coated with the marshmallow mixture.
5. Pour the mixture into the pre-greased pan and spread it out as best as possible to cover the entire pan.
6. Let the treats cool. Cut the treats into squares once the mixture is completley cool. Enjoy!

Results
SWEET!!! No, really, these taste very, very sweet. :) I am partial to the regular Rice Krispie Treats, but these are a good colorful alternative if you need something other than the regular recipe. I am sure this is not my last variation on Rice Krispie Treats. So many other fun cereals to try!

Recipe #13 - Egg Salad

I have been traveling a lot and seen egg salad sandwiches on menus everywhere lately, but didn't want to try one at a restaurant. I figured I could make one at home! It has been FOREVER since I have boiled an egg. Given my year long experience of new recipes, I figured a good egg salad could be added to my list.

I searched the internet and basically all recipes were about the same with a few variations. Below is what I ended up making.

Ingredients
4 hard boiled eggs
3 to 1 ratio of light mayo to dijon mustard (add more or less to taste)
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

Directions
1. Hard boil the eggs. Put the raw eggs in a pot filled with just enough cold water to cover the eggs. Bring the water to boil. Once the water boils for 1-2 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and place a lid on the pot. Let the eggs steam for 10-12 minutes. Remove the eggs from the hot water with a slotted spoon and place them into a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes or until you can safely handle the eggs.
2. Peel the shells off the eggs and discard. Slice the eggs into small pieces. Mix the egg, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add mayo/mustard/salt/pepper to taste.
3. Serve with crackers or on toasted bread! Enjoy!

Results
So simple. So delicious. I could definitely see myself making this again and trying some of the variations I saw online. I can check off one more thing from my list - successfully boiled an egg!

Recipe #12 - Cream Cheese Monkey Bread

Every time we visit my in-laws, my husband asks his mom to make him pinch bread (which I have found out is most commonly referred to as "Monkey Bread"). Last Christmas, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law taught me how to make the famous pinch bread for my husband. Up to this point I hadn't made it because it takes time for the yeast to rise in the dough, and I just hadn't found the time to make it yet.

At Easter, my best friend brought monkey bread to brunch and shared with me the secret that you can subsitute canned biscuits for the dough so you don't have to wait on the yeast! Genious!

There are several monkey bread recipes using canned biscuits on Pinterest but the one that peaked my interest the most was Cream Cheese Monkey Bread from www.PipandEbby.com. Yummmm!!!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup light brown sugar (original recipe calls for dark brown, but light brown is what I had in my pantry and it worked just fine)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 8oz cream cheese block
• 2 cans 16oz flaky biscuits (original recipe calls for 12 oz cans, but I grabbed the wrong ones and they worked perfectly)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
• In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
• Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl. Set aside.
• Cut 16 cubes into the cream cheese block. (Depending on how many biscuits you have, cut the same amount of cubes.)
• Pull apart the biscuits dough and lay the discs on a flat surface.
• Place one cube of cream cheese on each disc. Wrap the biscuit around the cream cheese.
• Place 8 of the dough-wrapped cream cheese cubes, cheese side UP, into the prepared bundt pan.
• Cover with half of the sugar mixture and half of the butter.
• Top with the remaining 8 dough-wrapped cream cheese cubes, cheese side DOWN, and leftover sugar mixture and butter.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
• Invert onto a platter and serve warm.
• Cover and refridgerate leftovers for up to 3 days.

Results

• One word: WOW!
• This was delicious. I would absolutley make it again, however, my husband and I both agreed that the cream cheese was too much for us. The biscuits, sugar mixutre and butter taste amazing together. The cream cheese is delicious, but not necessary.
• CAUTION: The cream cheese is HOT if you serve this right out of the oven.