Mexican Stuffed Manicotti

1lb browned hamburger meat
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 pkg manicotti
2 cups taco sauce (not picante)
Shredded cheddar or Mexican blended cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Prepare manicotti, boiling for 6 minutes. Brown hamburger meat, stir in taco seasoning following directions on package. Keeping heat on medium, stir in cream cheese until fully melted.

Stuff cooked manicotti shells with meat mixture and place in greased pan. Arrange stuffed shells in pan until mixture is gone. Cover with taco sauce. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes if meat mixture was still warm. If meat was cooler heat longer. Remove pan from oven and switch heat to broiler. Add cheese on top. Broil for 1-2 minutes until browed and bubbly. Enjoy!!

Chicken Taco Soup

4 large chicken breasts

2 cans whole kernel corn

2 cans zucchini in tomato sauce

1 can pinto beans

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 pkg ranch dressing

1 small can tomato sauce

2T chili powder

1T olive oil

For Quick Evening Preparation:

Place olive oil in large pot and sear chicken breasts on medium to high for 2 minutes on each side.  Chicken will still be pink in the middle.  Put remaining ingredients in the pot.  Cover and simmer on medium for  20 minutes.  Remove chicken and shred.  Return chicken to soup and simmer an additional 25 minutes. 

For Regular Preparation:

Place all ingredients (chicken raw) into pot and simmer on low for 2 hours.  Remove and shred chicken as stated above and simmer an additional hour.

For Crockpot Preparation: 

Place all ingredients in crockpot.  Stir and set crockpot for 6 or 10 hours depending on your schedule.

This recipe is delicious!! Enjoy!

Trying Kraft Fresh Take

So I am trying something new tonight. As I was walking through the grocery store the other day, I passed the cheese section where this caught my eye. Kraft Fresh Take - You make it fresh. According to the package you just mix, coat, and bake.

Sounds easy enough. My promotion has resulted in less time for cooking and trying things (as my lack of blog posts has proven) so I am open to trying things out. At at cost of only $2.50 I thought I'd give it a shot. I chose Italian Parmesan.

It says on the package it can coat six pieces. My guess would be small to medium size chicken beasts, pork chops or fish filets. For my first attempt... Chicken it is. I use tenderloins and was able to use 8 with plenty of mix left over. I just didn't have enough chicken. With this recipe I probably could have made 15 tenderloins.

Worrying that I wasn't going to have enough, I added 1/2 cup of additional Parmesan and 1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs. Guess I didn't need it.

The prep work is easy. Simply coat a pan, have thawed meat, (it needs to be a little wet) and open the package and shake it up. Press your filet into the mix and cover completely. Place on the pan and add additional mix on top. Repeat for all pieces. Bake until cooked thoroughly. It even gives you baking instructions for the different types of meat. Pop it in the oven, cook, and enjoy.

It certainly was easy enough. The Parmesan I added had small chunks so I made sure those pieces were placed on top of the filets.

Hope this review helps. It was pretty tasty.

Easy Pot Roast

2-3lb pot roast
1 onion
Carrots
Red Potatoes
Brown Gravy Mix
Salt & Pepper
Roasted Garlic Olive Oil

Mix brown gravy powder with water and pour in crockpot. Place roast in crockpot. Add veggies. Sprinkle salt and pepper over top. Add one more cup of water. Spritz olive oil, covering completely. Place lid on crockpot and cook for 4-10 hours based on time needed. Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

1/2 roasted chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package Pillsbury pre-made pie crust
1 package frozen mixed vegetables
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1/4 c water


Roast or boil chicken and shred.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine chicken, soup, veggies, salt and pepper in large bowl.  Add water and completely stir, set aside.  Line pie pan with first pie crust.  Pillsbury pie crusts are already cut in a circle, so you just have to trim the edges based on the depth of your pie pan.  Pour chicken mixture over the pie crust.  Gently even out filling.  Lay second pie crust over the top.  Using your fingers or a fork, pinch the two layers of crust together and move around the entire rim of the pie.  Trim excess crust.  Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown.

Salted Butter vs Unsalted Butter: Which to Choose?

Many people wonder what the difference is between salted butter and unsalted butter.  The natural reaction would be to pick salt, right?  Doesn't it add flavor?  Not always so.  


Salt added to butter is simply a preservative.  Salted butter has more water.  Both ingredients make the butter able to last 2-3 times longer in the refrigerator.  But this ability means that salted butter is usually less fresh.


The question is often asked if salted butter can be used in a recipe and then the salt omitted.  Or, how much salt is actually in salted butter?  Since there is no way to measure for sure, and different brands may produce different amounts, this idea is not recommended.  One stick of butter (1/2 cup) can yield 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of salt.  


Many people use salted butter on their toast and only more avid cooks will have both kinds in the refrigerator.  If you do keep both, the rule of thumb would be to use salted butter as a spread and unsalted butter for cooking and baking.


Of course, the decision is ultimately up to the cook.  This is just a guideline.

How to Cook Asparagus

Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables.  I buy a bundle every time I go to the grocery store.  It's quick any easy to make.  


It can be cooked as a complement to some dishes or with some dishes as I did in my Asparagus & Mozarella Wrapped Chicken recipe.  Delicious!!


There are several other ways to cook it.  Roast in the oven, steam, saute, stir-fry, grill or even frying it can be several options.  I have cooked asparagus all of these ways and I can't say I have disliked any recipe.


Lets start with how to prepare asparagus for cooking.  I prefer the bundles of thin asparagus to the bigger, thicker bundles, but sometimes that is all that is available.  Be sure to thoroughly clean your asparagus under water or using a vegetable cleaner.  The fibrous parts of the asparagus need to be removed.  They are very grainy and hard to chew.  You can cut the pink fibrous ends with cooking shears or using a knife, or you can bend the ends until they pop at the natural breaking point.  Now we are ready to cook.


Roasting:  My favorite way to cook asparagus.  Spray the pan with cooking spray.  I prefer butter flavor or olive oil flavor.  Lay asparagus in the pan and gently toss around to cover.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add other seasonings to your liking.  I often omit the salt and use garlic salt and parsley flakes instead.


Steaming:  Steaming is probably the second easiest method of cooking   
asparagus.  You can use an asparagus steamer or a regular pot.  I prefer an asparagus steaming pot like the one shown here in this Amazon ad.  It's the perfect height and helps guarantee your asparagus won't bend. Just add water to the bottom and bring to boil.  Insert asparagus tray and steam for about 5 minutes or until tender.

Saute:  Cut asparagus into smaller pieces.  Heat some butter or olive oil in a pan and add the asparagus.  I also add sliced onions, but you can prepare it the way you choose.  Sprinkle with salt, garlic salt or any other seasonings to your taste.  Be careful not to overcook and stir constantly.  


Grill:  In aluminum foil, prepare asparagus the same as when it's sauteed.  Add butter, and seasonings.  Seal and throw on the grill for about 5-10  minutes.    


Fried:  One of the unhealthier  options, but very tasty.  Requires a little more time.  Prepare a liquid batter and a bread crumb mixture.  I use Bisquik for the liquid batter and Panko bread crumbs and regular bread crumbs for the dry batter.  Add salt, pepper and I like to add Tony Chachere for flavor.  The easiest way to prepare the oil for frying is to use an electric skillet if you have one.  Heat vegetable oil to 400 degrees.  Coat asparagus in wet batter then dry batter.  Place in heated oil and cook until golden brown.  Repeat with each piece.


Hope this article helps and now you can enjoy several different ways to cook asparagus.