Tonight's Dinner plans...

S one of my staples in my house is whole chickens. I purchase the 2 pack at Costco for under $12. I am going to clean out the chicken sprinkle it with a lot of salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. I have a metal round baking dish which I will line very well with aluminum foil (to avoid heavy scrubbing later!). Place the chicken breasts down in the pan and put it on a preheated bbq for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to low and bake for 50 minutes. Keep checking your meat with a thermometer...I love the Pampered Chef digital thermometer (did I mention I sell Pampered Chef products? Let me know if you need one!) When the chicken reaches 165 degrees, remove and let rest for 30 minutes covered with foil. In the meantime, I am going to make artichokes. To prepare the artichokes, take scissors and cut off the top of all the leaves that have the little thorns. Take a knife and cut the stem off and then cut the artichokes in half lengthwise. With a pairing knife, carefully cut right under the hairs in order to pull out the small leaves and hairs. Place in a large pot of cold water and put on the stove and boil for 30 minutes. I like to make a mayo/lemon mixture to dip, but I know many people like melted butter. (I get my artichokes at Costco...they have a 4 pack for $5 and they are really big! Graham loves artichoke hearts!!) My othere side dish is going to be leftover rice...I know, boring but it is in the fridge! P.S. don't have a bbq? Cook your chicken in the oven on 400 for an hour and a half but make sure it's covered with foil until the last 15 minutes otherwise your oven will be a mess with oil splatter! Keep It Simple and Happy Cooking!

Costco Ice Cream Maker

A week ago I was doing my 2 week Costco shopping trip when I came upon the Cuisenart Ice Cream maker. This is a great ice cream maker which I have been aware of through friends and family, but I had not owned one yet. Costco had them on sale for $23.99. If you factor in the cost of $5+ per half gallon of ice cream, the savings with this maker are huge! Not to mention how often I crave ice cream and don't have any, and with this maker you can quickly and EASILY make ice cream in 25 minutes plus one hour in the freezer. Advice/Tip: you do need some whipping cream to make ice cream and I have found the least expensive whipping cream at Costco, so while you are there picking up your machine, grab some whipping cream before you check out. ALSO, when making ice cream, my mom gave me a fabulous tip...don't leave ice cream in the maker, scoop it out and store in tupperware and clean the bowl out to keep in freezer. The bowl does take awhile to freeze (20 hours). Ice cream/sorbet/frozen yogurt recipes to follow! :)

Tip: Wooden Spoon

So today I'm doing a home brewery kit, thanks to my brother Brian's great gift!  As I recruit my mother in law to be my official stirer while the brew boils, she stands there watching it to make sure it doesn't boil over...so I gave her my tip that I recently learned and tested...
Tip: Place a wooden spoon over the pot of boiling liquid and your contents will not boil over.  I have used  this method before, learning it off of a Pinterest point myself, and it works great without fail!

Happy Boiling!

Homemade Blueberry Muffins

Yes, making Blueberry Muffins is easy and tastier than buying a box from the market.  Here is my recipe:

2 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 c blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients together.  In a measuring cup pour milk, then oil, add egg and beat lightly.  Pour into dry ingredients and mix until combined...do NOT overmix.  Add blueberries, mix and put in greased muffin pan, filling 2/3 full.  Top each muffin with a little sugar just before baking and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops are nice and lightly golden.

Last Minute Leftovers make a FAB recipe!

So last night I wanted to make something simple, savory, EASY, and most importantly using leftovers in my fridge and pantry.  I was craving chicken noodle casserole, and had had left over rotisserie chicken from the store.  Here is what I made with a yummy garden salad...the casserole took 15 minutes to put together and 30 minutes to bake.

8 ozs egg noodles (I used bowtie and it worked just fine)
3 cups chicken (the recipe called for poached chicken breasts, I used leftovers and you could even use canned)
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup Sour Cream
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook pasta according to package directions. 
Mix soups and sour cream together, adding salt and pepper to taste.  When pasta is done mix chicken and pasta together then add soup/sour cream mixture and mix thoroughly.  Place everything in a 2-qt cooking dish, top with shredded cheese and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.  (I would recommend putting dish on a piece of aluminum foil in oven in case the dish bubbles over a bit. Cleaning my oven is not Keepin' It Simple!)

Enjoy!

Getting Things Started

Hey Everyone!
I've been wanting to start a cooking blog to keep things simple.  Often times friends/family ask for recipes of things I make and/or ask me for my tips of organizing for the week.  Every Sunday I set a menu for the upcoming two weeks, make a shopping list, shop on Monday and let the cooking begin!
Having two kids and keeping busy with them, I look forward to the evenings to cook a meal for my family...it makes me feel like I've accomplished at least one thing for the day! :)  And...I LOVE to cook...it is a hobby of mine...but I do everything easy!  So if you are interested, follow my blog...sometimes I will try new recipes and will comment accordingly.