Recipe Reviews

I really love to find and try new recipes. Sometimes they aren't all that and a bag of chips, but occasionally, I hit a winner. In the past week, I have found two recipes that are going to become staples at our family dinner table!

Lasagna Soup
Recipe source: Family Fun magazine

I really love Family Fun for their craft ideas, but they always have some interesting kid-friendly recipes as well. This one sold me just on the picture alone. Now, I don't exactly consider this to be a soup but rathermore like a "stoup" (in hommage to Rachel Ray). Nonetheless, it was a HUGE hit around our dinner table. Now, if you leave the recipe "as is", it makes 13 cups. I don't know about you, but that's a heck of a lot of soup for a family of four (considering the petite one doesn't eat that much). I chose to cut the recipe in half. I used a mild italian sausage made by our local grocery store which was a little spicy (I know you are laughing at me, Ms. M!); next time I might try their sweet italian sausage blend. I also did blend the full amount of the ricotta & parmasan cheese because this is Wisconsin after all and everything is better with more cheese! The next time, I would probably add a little more pasta as well (and would proably have even more leftovers). This fed our family well plus we had a full serving of leftover. Be sure to serve with either garlic bread or breadsticks
to make it even yummier!


Ranch Style Chicken
Source: The Pioneer Woman

If I were stuck on a ranch, I think I would cook just as much as The Pioneer Woman. This woman just has a knack for coming up with some of the best recipes though I must admit, she really loves her butter and bacon. Not the greatest when trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but you can always modify! I have to say, hands down, this is probably one of the best chicken dishes EVER! I think it has to do with the honey mustard combo. Ian suggested that the only way it could possibly be better would be if I could get the bacon, cheese and chicken to all stay together when he cut it. Not sure how to do that, but I kow I'll be making this agin so I sure will try! I did use my Pampered Chef stoneware to bake the bacon rather than fry it in the pan as she suggests. I just spooned a little bit of the bacon grease into my skillet when I went to sear the chicken. I'm thinking the next time I will use turkey bacon to bring down the fat content. I don't think the lack of grease will affect the searing since I use non-stick cookware anyhow. I would say though, if you have these ingredients on hand, this is what should be for dinner tonight. Seriously, I could probably eat this every week!

Ok, that's it for now. If I come across any other winners, I'll be sure to let you know.

Entertaining for both a mom and a two-year old

Yes, Kyra has been struck by the ick bug yet again this week so we have been under house arrest for the past two days. She's finally starting to feel better and in general has been a trooper though she really wants to go outside and romp in the snow.

Anyhow, this morning the boxes arrived from my Pampered Chef catalog show. Kyra views any box that arrives via mailman, FedEx or UPS as a present for her. I was super excited to get these boxes because they contained my new cookware. I decided that it was time (after almost 12 years since my bridal shower) to get new pots and pans.

Kyra was all too eager to help me unpack the boxes and clean out my cabinets. With every lid or pot I pulled out, she would say "hey look! a pot!" As a bonus, she also got the Teflon "sticker" from the inside of each pan. She looks like a walking billboard for Dupont right now. So, I have my new cookware, Kyra has her stickers and all is right with the world.

Fabulous Finds Friday

About two months ago, I hosted a Pampered Chef catalog show. One of the items I got was the Salad Chopper. These things are amazing! They make such short work of chopping up romaine lettuce! Another amazing use is to chop up chicken for chicken salad. If you are looking for a new handy kitchen tool, I would highly recommend finding your nearest Pampered Chef consultant and getting your hands on a pair. If you don't know a consultant, I know two very great gals who could help you OR my friend Angie is hosting a show at the beginning of June.

Just wanted to share!

Tackle It Tuesday (again)

Well, my tackle it Tuesday project is going to move into Wednesday as I took the kids to Blue Harbor Resort for the last day of Ian's not-so-spring-break since we are all moderately healthy again. I think corraling two children by my lonesome at an indoor waterpark should qualify for my Tackle It project (either that or send me straight to the loony bin) but I will press on anyway. Today's disaster area is the dreaded kitchen pantry. Here is the shot before:
Now, as you can see, I've been blessed to have a much bigger pantry in this house than in our old house. Unfortunately, Kyra has taken ownership of the lower three shelves on both sides. I can't say that I can complain much about that. I'd rather her play with fake food than pour cheerios and other loose items all over the kitchen floor. That being said, I can hardly find anything in the top three shelves. In fact, I am certain I have a whole container of raisins in there somewhere, but I just can't seem to locate them. In addition, I have lots of "leftover" items from Kyra's "wheat-free" sentence. As Rich so eloquently put it, she'll be eating wheat-free Teddy Puffs until she's ready to be married. So, my project for this week is to come up with yet another system for organizing the pantry. Wish me luck!

WEDNESDAY UPDATE:

Well, I'm not sure if I like it any better, but I did manage to go through every shelf and purge/re-organize. It should be fun to see Rich's head spin tomorrow morning when he goes to get his cereal from the usual space. He has the hardest time "accepting" change even though he's been warned several times that the cabinet arrangement was subject to change as I get a feel for the house. I may have to look into Stephanie's tupperware suggestion in the future.