Friday, September 25, 2009

Giveaway Winner!!!

I am super excited to announce the winner of my very first giveaway!! For some reason, I can't copy a picture of the random generator on random.org, so you guys are just going to have to take my word for it that I did use it!! Anyway, the winner is Jen!!

Jen said...
FOOTBALL!
September 23, 2009 8:15 AM

Congratulations, Jen!! Please email me at jennharton@paducah.com to claim your prize!!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Chicken Club Ring

Our dinner last night was pretty good. I look forward to trying different variations of this in the future. I think this was originally a Pampered Chef recipe, but I found it here. I have put that recipe below, and noted my changes.

Chicken Club RingRecipe
2 (8 oz) tubes refrigerator crescent rolls
3 cup coarsely chopped cooked chicken ( I just boiled my chicken, then when it was almost done, I chopped it up and put it in the skillet with a small amount of the bacon drippings, some garlic salt and onion salt.
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drained and chopped
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley (I omitted)
1 garlic clove, pressed (I used garlic salt instead)
2 plum tomatoes, sliced (I diced up a regular tomato)
2 chopped green onions
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In bowl, combine chicken, bacon, 3/4 cup of cheese, mayo, mustard, parsley and garlic; mix well.Scoop filling evenly over desired shape**; top with tomato slices. ( I mixed the tomato and green onion in with the rest of the mixture.) Finish shape as directed. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.** Shape refers to the various shapes you can make with crescent rolls and some creative folding - wreath, ring or braid. Basically, you lay them out in a circle, overlapping, to look like a sun. spread filling out over the inside edge, and one-by-one, fold the points over into the middle.

Happy Fall...and a Giveaway!!!

I LOVE fall. It is, by far, my favorite season. I'm not the most outdoorsy person, but fall is the one time a year that my husband can get me out to hike our local trails, or go exploring in some out of the way place that he has randomly come across. I love the cool air, and the colorful leaves, and the smell in the air that you only get in the fall. It.is.awesome.


As luck would have it, I received my very first package from myblogspark yesterday, so I am having a "Beginning of Fall" giveaway!! Yay!! If you haven't checked out myblogspark, you really should. It is a pretty neat concept. Anyway, on to my giveaway. The prize is a Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters "Snack Pack" prize pack that includes all four (4) varieties of the Granola Nut Clusters along with a sling backpack, stainless steel water bottle, flashlight and binoculars! I have already tried some of the granola nut clusters that I received, and they are AWESOME!


To enter the contest, I want to know your favorite thing about fall. The contest will end at 10pm on Thursday, and the winner will be announced on Friday morning. Good luck!!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

"Enchiladas"

Thankfully, we finally got unpacked enough that I could cook dinner last night in our new house! I was so excited, because I haven't been able to cook at all in so long, and that is how I relax. I was really excited about this particular dinner, because I LOVE anything mexican, and my husband does not. However, he actually requested this, so it was at the top of my menu for the week. A couple of months ago, I tried a recipe that everyone was raving about on the nest. Annie's "Benchilada's" were SO good. My husband loved them, but he asked if I would make them again using shredded beef. I was a little skeptical about mixing shredded beef, sour cream and ranch dressing, but the outcome was GREAT!! I still absolutely love the chicken version, so I will probably rotate between the two, but this is definitely going into our normal rotation!

My take on "Benchilada's"!

Ingredients:
1 chuck roast (any roast that shreds easily will work)
2 cans of beef broth
1 onion, sliced
taco seasoning
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
8 oz. Ranch salad dressing
flour tortillas (you can use small or large. I used the burrito size, and it made 5)
jar of salsa
shredded mexican cheese (I usually use close to 4 cups, I love cheese!)

Directions:
I put my roast in the crockpot in the morning before work. I added 2 cans of beef broth, 1 medium onion and a little bit of taco seasoning. I cooked it on low for 10 hrs. It was perfect by the time I got home from work. When I got home, I took the meat and onions out of the crockpot and placed it into a colander in the sink so all of the juice could drain.

While the beef is cooling, mix up the sauce. In a large mixing bowl, combine half of the sour cream and half of the Ranch dressing. In another, combine the rest of the sour cream and Ranch dressing. Stir both until well combined. Shred the beef and add to the large mixing bowl. Mix well with sauce.
Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan . Take one tortilla and top with about 1 tbsp. of the sauce from the small bowl. Spread over the tortilla in an even layer. Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla. Top with salsa to taste. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, to taste. Roll up tortilla and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining ingredients .
Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes or so. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Last night, I cooked dinner for my dad. I loved every minute of it, because I haven't had a kitchen in weeks. We wanted something quick and easy, so I decided on Tuna Noodle Casserole. This is an old stand-by for me. It is my moms recipe, and I'm pretty sure it came from the Betty Crocker, or Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I've adapted it a little over the years, but it is basically the same, and it never disappoints!!

Tuna Noodle Casserole
3-4 cups of egg noodles (I use more than the recipe calls for, because we love leftovers!)
9 oz canned tuna
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup mayo
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cheddar cheese
salt & pepper

Cook egg noodles using package directions. Chop onion & green pepper and place in a large bowl. Add tuna and mayo to the bowl. Heat soup and milk in a saucepan until heated through. Add 1/2 cup cheese to soup mixture, and stir until melted. Drain noodles and add to bowl. Pour soup over noodles. Stir contents of bowl until mixed well. Add 1/2 cup cheese to mixture and stir well. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 420 degrees for 20 minutes.

We move into our house in 4 days, so I plan to have LOTS of updates soon!! Stay tuned!

Monday, September 14, 2009

I.Am.Exhausted.

This has officially been the longest month of my life!! On August 18, we decided to move from our apartment, and I have not had one moment of down time since then. My mom & I have painted at the new house almost every day, and we are completely worn out. The good news is, we found out today that we will be moving in on Saturday!! YAY!! That means I get to be under the same roof as all of my belongings, my husband and my cats!! I could not be happier!! I haven't had time to get real excited about this move, but now that it is getting close, I am SUPER excited!! Our house has turned out SO cute!! I can't wait to be moved in and unpacked, and able to spend some much needed quiet time with my hubby!! :)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

I am NOT amused!

Well, this move is definitely not going like I'd hoped. We moved out of our apartment 9 days ago, and as of today, our house is not much closer to being ready to move into. When they told us it might take " a few days" longer, I was cool with it. I thought, we can find a place to stay for a few days. No big deal. But this is starting to get ridiculous. We stayed in a hotel until today. However, that was getting crazy expensive, so we are now going to be staying with our respective parents. Why, you ask?! Well, with Matt working nights, he didn't want to come in around 4 in the morning at my parents and wake everyone up (and there is really no way around it), and there is only room for one of us at his moms, so there you have it. It is a little bit like we are dating again! I am really trying to make the best of it, but it is starting to wear me down. I hate being so "unsettled". I just want to be in our house, with my husband and our cats! So say a little prayer that this contractor gets on the ball before I beat him with my paint roller!!! :)