Cheeseburger Stuffed Mushrooms

So tonight is my Bunco night, and I decided to take 2 things. I am going to be making my version of herb& cheese monkey bread (recipe to come tomorrow, if it doesn't suck!), but I don't know how it will turn out, so I wanted a back up. I had torn out a page from one of my Rachel Ray magazines that had several different stuffed mushroom ideas, and this was one of them. I've done the prep work already, so when I get home from work all I have to do is stuff them and bake them. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Cheeseburger Stuffed Mushrooms
16 stuffer mushrooms
1/2 lb ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
olive oil
worchestershire sauce
american cheese

Saute onions in a little bit of olive oil until tender. Add ground beef. When cooked through, drain grease. Add a couple tablespoons of worchestershire sauce and salt & pepper. Stuff each mushroom with hamburger mixture. Top with a 2 inch square of cheese. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Top with a dollup of ketchup.

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

So I sort of just made up what I cooked for dinner Friday night. It is WAY past time for me to go to the grocery, but I just haven't had time, so I worked with what I had. I had actually bought the stuff to make stuffed green peppers a few weeks ago, but never got around to it. So my peppers weren't in great shape, but they were still usable, so I didn't want to just throw them out. Here's what I came up with...

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
4 green peppers, chopped in quarter size chunks
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
garlic salt to taste
onion salt to taste
black pepper to taste
Italian seasonings (my diced tomatoes weren't seasoned, but if you used the kind with italian seasonings, you might not need as much of this)

Brown ground beef in a skillet with onions. Drain grease and add green peppers, diced tomatoes, 1/2 can of tomato sauce, and seasonings. Cook on med-low until everything is heated. Pour into a baking dish and cover with remaining tomato sauce. Put in 350 degree oven for about45 minutes.

Sesame Chicken

While I have a spare moment, I figured I would go ahead and post the recipe for our dinner tonight. I've made it several times already, and it has been awesome every time. I found the recipe on Carrie's Sweet Life, and almost every recipe that I have gotten off of her blog has been phenomenal. So anyway, here it is...

Sesame Chicken (Nestie: TexasSmith)
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. toasted sesame seeds, divided
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
1.5 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 package chicken breast strips, cut into chunks
8 tbsp. teriyaki sauce
6 tbsp. honey (I ended up using a little bit more, because I'm impatient and want my sauce thick!)
oil for frying
In a large ziplock bag, combine flour, 1/4 c. sesame seeds, black pepper, red pepper and Chinese spice. Place chicken in bag and shake to coat.
Heat oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Place chicken into skillet and brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.
Remove chicken from skillet and empty excess oil from pan. Reduce heat to low and return chicken to skillet. Mix in teriyaki sauce, honey and 1/4 c. sesame seeds, and stir until sauce thickens.

I serve it with white rice or fried rice, whichever I happen to be in the mood for.

I need some help.

I am so behind right now, not just with my blog, but with EVERYTHING! I cannot believe that it is already December 10th. I haven't accomplished anything this month. I do have my Christmas tree up, and my wreath on my door, but that is literally the extent of what I have done. I've bought ONE Christmas present, and the only reason I've done that is because I ordered it online. So needless today, next week is going to be a CRAZY week for me. My goal is to go out every evening after work and do a little at a time so that by Saturday, I will have all of my gifts bought, and I can spend the day wrapping and doing my Christmas baking. Because I have so much to do, I'm not going to have the time or money to put into my grocery shopping next week. What I would like is to try to plan the next 2 wks worth of meals with things that only require a couple of ingredients. So that is where the "help" comes in. I need dinner ideas. Low cost, quick dinner ideas. So if there is anyone that actually reads this...HELP ME!! :)

My Best Friend

This past Tuesday, my husband & I celebrated a special day. It was our 9 yr "dating anniversary"!! It's hard for me to believe that we have been together for 9 years. In some ways, it has gone by super fast, but in other ways, I feel like I have been with him my whole life. We started dating when I was 21 yrs old, so I have actually been with him all of my adult life. We have made so many great memories over the years. We have also faced many struggles. But if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change it for anything, because our relationship is what it is today because of the good AND the bad. He is truly an incredible person and my very best friend. Every day is an adventure. He is my sounding board and my biggest fan. He pushes me when I need it, and he steps in when he knows I've had all I can take. He protects and defends me. He laughs at me when I say or do something ridiculous, and he holds my hand when I cry. I don't know how I got so lucky. I feel truly blessed to have spent the last 9 years with him, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

Chicken Enchilada Dip

Yesterday, I mentioned one of my favorite blogs, Home With Mandy. Let me just say again, that I love love love her blog. For the last couple of weeks, I had been looking for something to make for my Bunco group. I found several things that sounded good, but I kept going back to something I had seen on her page...Chicken Enchilada Dip. It was a lot different than anything I had ever made before, so I liked it even more. I had bunco on Tuesday night, so on Monday night I assembled the dip and put it in the fridge overnight, that way I could just pop it in the oven when I got home from work on Tuesday. Here is the recipe:



8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup mayo (she used spicy mayo, which I couldn't find, so I just added a few drops of Tabasco

to my mayo.)

16 oz. shredded mild cheddar cheese

1 can diced green chile peppers

2 jalapeno, finely diced (remove ribs and seeds)

Half a bundle of green onions, chopped

1 tsp. of Cajun seasoning

1 tsp. Garlic powder

1 lg. can of all white meat chicken



Mix all ingredients together and spread in a serving dish. I put mine in the oven on 375 for about 30 minutes, just long enough for the cheese to get melty and bubbly! Serve with tortilla chips.



This dip was such a hit with my bunco group! I was a little uncertain before I baked it, because it smelled like chicken salad, but after it cooks, it is Awesome!

Awesome blog & great giveaway!

I just wanted to let everyone know real quick about one of my favorite blogs...Home with Mandy. Her blog is awesome! She posts some amazing recipes, and they are all foods that real people eat. I've made a few of her recipes already, and I can't wait to make more. Today is her 100th post, and she has an awesome giveaway. You've GOT to check it out! And just a warning...her blog will make you hungry! So go over here, and tell her I sent ya!

I'm so proud of myself!

Ok, so it doesn't take much for me to pat myself on the back, you will find that out very quickly. I've been reading some of the different cleaning challenges on different blogs, and I decided to make my own challenge, just for me. Most of the time, I do enough around the house during the week just to get by, so it doesn't look like a tornado has gone through our house. Then on the weekend, I try to clean everything, and I get overwhelmed, so I just quit. Things that I want to get done never do, and I don't make it to any of my actual projects because I run out of time. So I posted a cleaning schedule on my fridge, and so far, it is really working out. Here is my schedule: Monday ~ bathrooms
Tuesday ~ Living/dining room
Wednesday ~ kitchen
Thursday ~ bedrooms
Friday, Saturday & Sunday will be laundry, and any other projects I have at the
time.

Now I realize that I will have to do little things in all of these rooms all week, but these are the days that a specific room gets REALLY cleaned. My husband has (reluctantly) agreed to help out...he is responsible for the upstairs bathroom (which is basically his anyway) and our bedroom. Last night was living room night, and I moved out our couch and loveseat and vaccuumed behind them, flipped the cushions, and vaccuumed under them as well. I dusted, and washed the windows. It was pretty impressive. I was hoping that, during this major cleaning session, that we would stumble across my husbands wedding band, but sadly enough, we didn't. We are going to keep looking til the end of the week, and if we don't find it by then, we are going to order a new one. :( We found the exact same one, but it still makes me sad, because it won't be the one that I gave him on our wedding day.

The Love Dare

I'm sure that a lot of you are familiar with the movie that is out right now called "Fireproof". It is a christian -based film, and so far, I have not heard one negative comment about this movie. I'm not going to go into the details of the movie, but if you haven't heard of it, look it up. Anyway, a big part of this movie is based on a devotional called "The Love Dare". It is a couple's devotional, and I think it is really intended for marriages that are struggling, but I don't know any of us that couldn't use all the help we can get when it comes to keeping our marriages on the right track. My husband and I have been doing the Love Dare, and we are LOVING it!! My husband isn't the type of guy you would think could be talked into doing this, but he is actually enjoying it. At the end of each day, it gives you a dare. We do ours at night, and the challenge we are given is the one for the next day. Then the next night, we discuss it, and move on to the next day. It starts out with simple "dares", such as "Go an entire day without saying anything negative to your spouse". You might think that seems silly, but when you actually make a conscious effort to do it, you realize how many times in a day you start to nag or criticize your spouse. I definitely recognize this book to ANY couple. It is an eye opener, and has really brought my husband and I even closer. If you are already doing The Love Dare, leave me a comment and give me your thoughts on it. I'd love to hear it!

My wasted weekend!

Well, if you read my previous post, you would know that I had big plans for my weekend. I was going to accomplish A LOT. I really, really did have good intentions, but at this point, my life is still not organized! Let me give you a rundown of my weekend...I got up early Saturday morning to take one of our cats to the vet. I figured that since I was up and going, I would be motivated. When I got home, my husband was heading out the door to run some errands, and said that he was taking me to dinner that night. So I sat down for a few minutes, and ended up taking a 2 hour nap! Then I managed to get caught up in a movie, and by the time it was over, it was time for me to start getting ready for dinner. So we went out, and ended up meeting 2 other couple friends of ours at a mexican restaurant. We talked and ate and laughed, and 4 MARGARITAS LATER, we went home. I found out this weekend that I am WAY too old for that anymore!! I woke up Sunday morning with the worst headache EVER! By about 1:00 yesterday afternoon, I felt a little better, enough to get up and clean up a little, and wash 3 loads of laundry for my husband to take up to the laundry room to dry, since our dryer went out on Saturday, and I cleaned out ONE drawer!!! However, I did manage to fill up an entire trash bag of magazines and papers and junk that I threw away. So, while I didn't get it all done, I at least got a start. And this week, we are starting my "cleaning schedule". I made out a schedule so that I don't get so overwhelmed during the week. I am tackling 1 room a night. Tonight is bathrooms. It has needed a good cleaning for a while, so this is a good thing.

Oh, and one more thing. My husband lost his wedding band yesterday. Yep, I think I'm going to strangle him. We cant find it anywhere. He sat straight up in bed at midnight last night and said "I don't have my ring on!" He never takes it off, so I'm a little worried that we might never find it. But if you know my husband, you would probably be impressed that he kept up with it for a whole year!! Just keep your fingers crossed that we find it!

I'm organizing my life!!

So I have really been getting motivated by reading other people's blogs lately. In case I haven't mentioned it, we live in a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath apartment/townhouse that is literally busting at the seams. Why, you ask? Because I am a packrat. I save EVERYTHING, and have all my life. My mom has been cleaning her house and getting rid of things over the past 2 years, which means that all the "stuff" I had in boxes at her house has now made its way to my house. So I am determined to get myself organized. I am going to start with the closets this weekend. I am getting rid of clothes. If I haven't worn it in a year, or "it would fit if I just lost 10 lbs", it is going to Goodwill. Our closet is stuffed with clothes that we NEVER wear. My husband is just as bad as I am. I am also bad about saving papers and magazines and stuff like that. My husband says that I am a fire hazzard. The dresser drawers in the spare bedroom are FULL of cookbooks, recipes that I've printed, old bills, etc. I am going to organize it all!! That is my mission. I'm tired of looking at all of this junk!!

2 posts in one day?! Shut up!!

I have been emailing back and forth with a friend today, and our conversation has compelled me to write my second blog of the day. We were discussing the election, and how mean - spirited people have been, moreso than any other election that I can remember. Let me just say that I am a Republican, and I voted for John McCain. I know that it is taboo to discuss stuff like that, but I'm not ashamed of it. I feel like Obama does not line up with my religeous beliefs, as well as other things that I do not agree with. But these are MY beliefs. I don't try to force them on anyone else. My friend, who is one of the kindest people I know, is a Democrat, and voted for Obama. I don't judge her for that. However, some of her friends have been REALLY cruel to her about her beliefs. It makes me sad. She sent me some of the comments that people had made to her, and they are just flat out mean. She says that she has several friendships that she is fairly sure will not be mended because of this. I cannot wrap my brain around letting an election ruin a friendship. It just seems crazy to me. Why do people have to be so mean? I don't love my friends IN SPITE of our differences, I love them BECAUSE of our differences. It would be such a boring world if we only surrounded ourselves with people exactly like us. I just wish people would learn to be nice, even when they don't see eye to eye.

Ok, I'm done ranting! :)

My name is Jennifer, and I have an addiction...

To blogs!! I'm not kidding. I was on vacation last week, and one day, I sat on the couch, laptop in my lap, and got lost in blogs for HOURS!! It was crazy!! I love to read about other people lives. Cooking blogs are my favorite, but really, I just love to read anything about other people! Does that mean that my own life isn't exciting enough?!

Anyway, to update on life a little bit...my husband & I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary on October 27th. We were on our trip to Pennyrile Forest on our actual anniversary, and it was fantastic! There is nothing better than being in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception, and absolute peace and quiet. We came home on the 29th, and celebrated then by staying in and cooking dinner together. It was really nice. I got our wedding cake from my mom's house, and lets just say that it wasn't great!! I didn't have real high hopes for it anyway. Overall, we had a really great anniversary, and my week of vacation was awesome!

I still haven't been cooking much lately. We've just had so much going on, so we've been making do with quick dinners. I will go grocery shopping next week, and hopefully I can get back into the swing of things. I found lots of recipes that I want to try, during my day of "blog stalking"!! Well, I guess thats it for me today.

Its been almost a month...Seriously?!

Ok, I think it is fair to say that we have established the fact that I am a terrible blogger. I have good intentions, but that is about as far as it goes. On top of that, my camera has had an attitude lately, so I can't even post some of the pictures I would like to post. First of all, I would like to tell you all about a blog swap that I participated in recently. I found about the blogswap from the blog The Pink Potpourri. She matched me with Brandi, and it was AWESOME!! She was a great "swap buddy"!! I have a picture, but since my camera is holding it hostage, I'll just have to tell you what she sent. I got the cutest little fall cookie cutters, which I already have several ideas for, Sour Patch Kids (yum!), an apple coaster from the Apple Barn, some cute post-its, some of my favorite lotion from Victoria's Secret, a turtle trinket box, a mix for Key Lime Cheeseball, which I can't wait to try, and 2 of her own recipes. I feel like I'm forgetting something, but my stuff is at home, and well, I am not. :) It was SO much fun to get a package in the mail. (Brandi, if I left anything out, I apologize!!)

Now, on to my latest "crisis". Ok, so it really isn't a crisis, but that is the best I can come up with! I have been in a cooking "funk" lately. I definitely haven't been cooking as much lately for some reason, and when I do, it never turns out very well. I don't really know what the problem is, but I would love to hear from other people about what they do to get out of their cooking funk. Since fall is here, and it is my favorite time of year, I love to cook foods that make my whole house smell wonderful. I need to "revive" my cooking skills!!

We are also quickly approaching our 1 year anniversary. I cannot believe that it has been a year! I am taking a week of vacation the last week in October, and we are going to Pennyrile State Park for a few days of R&R. That is possibly my husbands favorite place on earth, so I'm excited to go there for our anniversary. Well, I think I am basically caught up for now. Hopefully I will get better at this soon!!

Bunco Night!

Tonight is the night that I really look forward to every month. A group of my friends get together for bunco. It is the most fun, relaxing and enjoyable time!! We happen to be meeting at my house this month, which is always a plus...I can have fun and never leave home! For my "bunco treat" tonight, I made a grape salad. I haven't tasted it yet, but it looks wonderful!! Here is the recipe...

Grape Salad

2 lbs green grapes
2 lbs red grapes
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
chopped pecans

Remove stems from grapes, rinse and set aside. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla by hand until well blended. Mix in grapes. Mix brown sugar and nuts together. Put half of grape mixture into serving dish, covered by brown sugar mixture. Repeat another layer. Refridgerate overnight. YUM!!

I'm a sucky blogger.

I've just come to accept this fact. But I've also come to realize that it doesn't really matter, because nobody actually reads my blog!! Hopefully that will change soon. I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking lately for some reason. I guess we have just been pretty busy. On Monday, we grilled bbq chicken, and I made hashbrown casserole, squash, and s'mores bars, and that has fed us for 3 days! I haven't cooked since. But tonight, I am going to attempt Pioneer Woman's chicken spaghetti. It looks sooo good, and I just hope it turns out well. I also hope that my hubby likes it, because he is weird about chicken recipes. If it were up to him, we would eat steak every night of the week!

On a different note, I am participating in my first "swap" this month. I just got the name of my swap buddy, and I am SO excited!! This is right up my alley! Well, I guess thats it for now. I'll try to be more faithful to this blog from now on!

Ok, so I haven't gotten better at this yet!

I really, really do have good intentions with this blog, I PROMISE!! Today I thought I would just post an easy "recipe". Its not even that. Its just one of my most favorite things. I love love love potatoes. Pretty much any kind. But I especially love a baked potato. I make mine the same way my mom always made them, and they are delicious!! Here's what you need...

1 large baking potato
butter
Lawry's season salt
aluminum foil

Start by washing your potato, and poking holes in the top. Then tear off enough foil to wrap the potato loosely. Set the potato on the foil, put a couple globs of butter on top, and sprinkle with season salt. Wrap the foil at the top, and put in a 400 degree oven for an hour to an hour and 1/2. It is WONDERFUL!!


On a different note, I'd like to find out who, if anybody EVER reads this blog. If you do, would you please leave me a comment to this post so I can check out your blogs? I look forward to "meeting" you!!

Turning 30 and other random thoughts

Almost 2 months ago, I turned 30. Now to some people, that may not seem like a big deal, but to me, it was HUGE. I got a little depressed in the weeks leading up to my birthday, because frankly, I am just not to where I thought I would be in my life by 30. Then, out of nowhere, I realized how ridiculous that sounded. I mean sure, maybe I don't have kids of my own yet, and maybe I am as successful in my career as I thought I would be by now, but when I sit back and look at what I do have, I have to say that I am pretty blessed. I have a job that I enjoy, an awesome husband who makes my life interesting every day, a stepson that I am starting to really build a relationship with, and a family and friends that I wouldn't trade for anything. When I started to realized how incredibly lucky I really am, the rest of my worry seemed to fade away. By the time that my actual birthday got here, I had embraced the idea of turning 30, and I actually had the best day ever!!
Now, I wish that I was better at keeping up with this blog. I really want to have a cooking blog like some of the ones I've found on here. But the fact is, I'm just not that disciplined. I don't want to post recipes without pictures, but I keep forgetting to take pictures when my meals are ready. I'm working on it, though. I'm going to get there eventually!!

Oh my!

I have been TERRIBLE at keeping up with this blog!! Wow! I re-read my first post, where I stated that I was not going to let this blog die down...Hahaha! But I have been spending a lot of time reading other blogs lately, so I think I am motivated. Plus, I finally found the cord for my camera to download pictures, so recipes will be coming soon! I hate finding blogs that have recipes but no pictures. I NEED PICTURES!! So anyway, this might be a slow week recipe wise because it is the end of a pay period, but I am bound and determined to make this blog worth reading. So stay tuned...!

Hmmm...

Well, it turns out that I am not a very faithful blogger! I just haven't had much to say this week. It has been a fairly boring week, which honestly, I should be grateful for. I'm glad that it is Friday, and I have a whole list of things I want to do this weekend. I am going to FINALLY do my spring cleaning, and work on the closets. No more excuses! I have got to get rid of stuff before our apartment starts busting at the seams!! So, I will hopefully have a good report on Monday!!

Why can't I bake?!

I don't know what my problem is. I can cook, and seem to be getting better everyday, but when it comes to baking, I JUST DON'T GET IT!!! Yesterday, I decided that I was going to try to be a good wife, and make sugar cookies from scratch for my hubby. (one of his faves) Not so difficult, right?! WRONG!! It was a disaster!! They just melted together while they were in the oven, and turned into one big, flat cookie. It was ridiculous! And the sad thing is, something goes wrong every time I try to bake. I guess it is a good thing that I am not big on sweets, because I would be in big trouble!


By the way, I STILL didn't get to those closets! (maybe next weekend...)

TGIF

This has been such a long week!! I don't really know why, it was no different than any other week, but my lord, I thought it would never end. Somehow, my hubby and I have managed to have something to do every evening this week, which means that I haven't cooked once all week. Maybe that is the problem. Cooking is my stress relief. I love to cook, and am usually quite relaxed when I am in the kitchen.

We took both of our boy cats to get fixed today. They have gone crazy in my house this week, and I just couldn't stand it anymore. There is definitely a reason you shouldn't have 3 cats in an apartment. Let's just hope this stops the peeing problem. If not, I know two young men who are going to be packing their bags!!

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can actually make time to clean out closets this weekend. They are out of control. I've been saying this for almost a month, but I really mean it this time. I'll update on Monday!!

Taco Dip

2 cans refried beans
2 packages cream cheese
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 package shredded cheddar cheese
1 small can black olives
1 tomato2-3 green onions

In a 9x13 baking dish, layer refried beans, taco seasoning mixed with cream cheese, cheddar cheese and veggies. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until cheese is completely melted. Serve with tortilla chips.

My very first blog!

Well, I am very new to this, but I am looking forward to having an outlet for all of my randomness (and believe me, there is plenty!). As I said before, I am a newlywed. My husband and I got married October 27, 2007 in an absolutely perfect wedding. It was by far the most awesome day of my life. I'm always looking for new things to do and try, and I'm hoping that blogging will be one of those things. (I sometimes get really excited, then let things die down, but my goal is to keep this blog current.) My main purpose for blogging is to share recipes. I would love, love, love to hear about the things that other people cook. I love to cook, but I don't like fancy, complicated things. So feel free to share!!