Alphabet Soup

Two recipes in one day? Wow. I must be neglecting the laundry today, lol. Anyway, this recipe is something that I played around with for supper -- it's a cross between a couple of recipes that I had bookmarked to try. Sean didn't want to eat it (those evil veggies again) but I did manage to get him to try a tortellini. D is not a big fan of spinach, but he did say it was good. I liked it, though with the response from the family, I'm not sure how often I'll be making it. It was fairly easy to throw together, though. Creamy Sausage and Tortellini Bake 1 lb bulk Italian sausage 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1 can (14-1/2 oz) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained 1 pkg (10 oz) frozen creamed spinach, thawed 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided 1 (20 oz) pkg refrigerated cheese tortellini Preheat oven to 350'F. In a large skillet or dutch oven, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until no longer pink; drain (if necessary). Sti...

I made this a few nights ago, and thought I would share the recipe. It's a great meal for a busy weeknight, especially since it utilizes the crockpot/slow cooker. It also reheats well. I even know how this recipe came to be in my files! A friend of mine, Faith, shared it a few years ago. Cream Cheese Chicken 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/4 cup melter butter salt and pepper, to taste 2 packets dry Ranch or Italian dressing mix 1 can cream of chicken soup 8 oz cream cheese, cut into cubes 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/2 cup chopped onion Brush chicken with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in a Crock Pot and sprinkle 1 packet dry dressing mix over all. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours. About 45 minutes before serving, brown onion in 1/4 cup of the juices from the Crock Pot. Add soup, second packet of dry dressing mix, cream cheese and chicken broth. Cook until smooth. Pout over the chicken; cover and cook another 45 minutes. Serve with sauce. Goes...

I didn't get the cake made yesterday, but I did manage to bake up a new cookie recipe that I wanted to try. See, cookies are easier, lol. Anyway, I am reading Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke and it is full of recipes (it's the first book by her that I've read). This recipe sounded interesting, and after my failed Pink Velvet Cupcakes last week (What? I didn't blog about that? Really? And no, you won't see anything else about that catastrophe, LOL) these sounded like just the thing to try. My parents were here for supper, and everyone that tried one agreed that they were good. I felt they were missing something though. I didn't have time to make the cream cheese frosting for them, so perhaps that was it. After consulting with my Red Velvet Cake expert today, she agrees that they needed the frosting. :) Red Velvet Cookies 2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/3 cup granula...

I didn't get my Tuesdays with Dorie post made yesterday, and I didn't get the cake that I was supposed to bake made either. I haven't been budgeting my baking time well, and technically I needed to bake two separate layer cakes for two separate baking events this week! It's one thing to whip up a batch of cookies quickly, it's another thing to make a three-layer cake with frosting. So, I know the one for TWD didn't get made (even though it looks delicious -- it's the one from the cover of the book!) and I have a feeling the one for the Cake Slice may not get made either, although I wouldn't count it out totally...I do have until Friday to get it made, lol. In the meantime, check out with the other TWD Bakers did with the Devil's Food White Out Cake this week!! :) Later!

I tried a new recipe tonight, and it was a hit! Well, Sean only ate one bite, but whatever...D and I liked it! :) Not only was it good, but it was quick and easy to throw together. It's also budget-friendly; it cost me less than $10 to make the entire dish. I'll have to make sure I keep the ingredients on hand for this one. Funny side note - before serving it, I grabbed my camera to take a quick picture. Every time I start taking pictures of food, D just rolls his eyes and laughs at me! He'd really laugh at me if he knew that I'd love to start plating the food on fancy dishes and setting a "scene" to try to make the pictures look more like the ones in magazines and books, LOL!! Pierogi Beef Skillet 1 lb ground beef 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth 1 pkg (16 oz) frozen cheese and potato pierogies, thawed 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning 1/2 c...

So, yes I've joined another baking event! I can't help it...they're just so much fun. This one is all about cookies! Kate at the Clean Plate Club hosts a monthly event she calls the Cookie Carnival. This is my first month to play, and the recipe she chose was chocolate fudge cookies with toffee and dried cherries from this book . Now, I'll admit, I was a little...timid about trying this recipe. I mean, chocolate, cherries and toffee?? Sounded a bit odd in my opinion. Oh my how I was wrong! Well okay, it still sounds odd, lol, but it sure tastes good!! I couldn't even wait for one to finish cooling down before taste-testing it, so the chocolate chunks were all warm and gooey in the middle. Yum!! I am heading up the hospitality committee at the elementary school this year, and we are having a treat day for the teachers tomorrow. I thought this would be the perfect thing to send! Here's the recipe, and make sure to wipe the drool off of your keyboard! Too bad we ...

For this week's recipe, Shari of Whisk: a food blog chose Floating Islands . These look amazing. And time consuming, lol. And because of birthday parties last week and Valentine's coming up this week, I'm going to be passing on making this recipe. For now. I definitely plan on getting brave and trying these at some poin!. In the meantime, check out what the other TWD Bakers did with this recipe, and you should definitely check out Shari's post about it and see her amazing photos and commentary!! Happy Baking everyone!! Later!

For his party at school, Munchkin requested birthday cake cones. This was a new one for me. I don't think I've ever even eaten one before yesterday, although while during research on them, they were apparently quite popular back in the 80's. I guess maybe I wasn't cool enough to have them back then! Anyway, they are actually super simple to make. I just whipped up a boxed vanilla cake mix (yes, a mix -- gasp, lol!!) although I did add an extra teaspoon of vanilla for good measure. Then, you fill some flat-bottomed cake cones with the batter, bake, and there you go! Munchkin even helped me make them. Sprout wasn't too happy that he was confined to the highchair during the baking process. He was definitely telling us about the whole time! We made the cupcakes yesterday evening, and I took them to school this afternoon. The kids were quite happy with them. One kid even told me that they were better than his mom's cupcakes. Oops. To his mom: sorry 'bout that...

Checkout the giveaway on From One Mommy to Another !! She's giving away a Ju-Ju-Be Be Set in one of the two new spring prints, sponsored by Little Dudes and Divas . In case you didn't know, I've become a bit of a diaper bag junkie since the little one was born, lol!! These things are great for organizing your bags, and not just diaper bags either!! :)

I'm back in the baking groove, thank goodness. And just in time, because this week Jessica of cookbookhabit chose World Peace Cookies for everyone to bake. Quite an intriguing recipe title, don't you think? What's also intriguing is that the original recipe calls for fleur de sel and while I didn't have any fancy varieties on hand, I did actually have some nondescript sea salt that I could use. It adds an interesting saltiness to the cookies. Additionally, the recipe calls for chopped up bittersweet chocolate. Well, as I was perusing my pantry today, I spotted a bar of white chocolate and decided to play around a bit. Think of these cookies as a chocolate slice and bake shortbread cookie. They are sandy and crumbly. And I must say, they are quite delicious! :) If you happen to get the chance, I highly suggest giving these cookies a try. I got a little picture happy today, thanks to my new camera! The white chocolate was an interesting addition. It was good, but almost...