Easy Cheesy Broccoli and Rice in the Microwave

 This is  my latest favorite thing to cook, and i make it in the microwave.   I use regular rice (not minute rice, although you can use that too) following the stovetop cook directions, and add a tsp of chicken boullion.  I heat mine for 9 minutes in 3 minute increments.  I put some frozen broccoli in another container with a little water and cook/steam it for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add it to the rice, add my cheese, and a smidgeon of garlic salt.  Mmmmm its so good.  It would also be good with some chicken or beef added, but I didn’t have any to add. 

Slow Friday Thanks to the Weather

Happy Freezing Friday! I brought you a cuppa hot chocolate to warm up with. You are going to need it, trust me. 🥶  It is currently 1:23 pm  and 17° but it feels like ZERO. Burrr!  It was 51° inside this morning at 9am which, compared to outside, felt pretty good. Last time i checked the thermostat said 61°. It is set on 66° but i do not expect it to make it, thus it will run all day. 

Our phone/internet has been down since about noon.  It happened right in the middle of taking a customers order. Good thing we have a BackUp plan A and BackUp plan B. Business will continue semi-normally, just no call in orders until service is restored. 

Anyway on to happier thoughts.

FOOD 😃

Last night i baked some toffee bites cookies. They are almost gone,  so today i will be baking some double chocolate chip cookies. Gotta keep my customers happy. Plus the oven will help heat it up for a little bit. 

Last night i also made a big pot of homemade potato soup.  It definitely is cold enough for soup, but potato is not what the customers are wanting. They keep asking for my homemade chicken noodle.  Honestly i have not had time to make it lately. When i do though, i better make a double batch. 

Last night for supper i had a polish sausage with sauerkraut.  Holy smokes was it delicious!  It is currently a limited time menu item and i used this picture to post to the business social media sites to advertise it. (same with the soup and cookies photos) 

This morning i fixed waffles for brunch. Mmmm they were good. I prefer waffles over pancakes and french toast 99% of the time. 

Enough food til i make cookies later, which i plan to start on as soon as i am finished with this post draft. No worries i will share a picture of them. 😃

Now it is FIBER NEWS🧶 

I am almost finished with the second hat for the January Challenge. Yes i planned the colors on this one, but i assure you they were all scraps. 🧶

I also started a loom knit scarf. This yarn is perfect! 🧶

Ok off to make those double chocolate chip cookies …….

Our internet/phone service was restored around 2:00, while i was working on those yummy cookies. 

3:30pm Cookies are  baked and ready to sell.  Good thing they are to sell because i could eat the whole dozen myself. 

I only baked a dozen but i have enough cookie dough for 1 maybe 2 dozen or so more. I will make them up as these sell

About 4:30

Hubby and i decided to cover up the window AC unit. Dunno why we waited so long. Probably because this is the coldest its been so far this winter. It did help a lot. 

After that i got some toys ready to restock one of the redemption games at our restaurant 

Around 8:00pm I made an apple crisp for hubby and me to share. It is not very big, i just used 1 apple. We will make it last for 2 meals. 

Thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope you enjoyed reading some things i did.  Until next time…….

10:00pm

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❤️🧶 Anna

Ham and Beans Update

Well it smells good.  I like the broth and the beans.  Hubby likes the broth and ham. Son said it was ok.  We took it to church for the Wednesday evening supper and everyone said it was good.  I think the original recipe needs a little tweaking and then maybe I can call it my own.  We never use a recipe as is for Cosmic Castle.  We always have to change it in some way, then I can tell people where I found the recipe, but I won't tell them the changes I made.  SO table this for a while and I will let you know when/if we proceed.

Beans and Fudge

So something I don't ever remember eating growing up is ham and beans.  My dad refused to eat any beans other than green beans and lima beans. His reasoning is he ate way too many growing up.  His family grew pinto beans in Wyoming.  They sold the good ones and lived off the not so good ones all winter long. Guess I can see his point.  We have had a request for ham and beans and cornbread for a Thursday evening meal at Cosmic Castle.  I have to get brave and fix it and see if I like it.I found this Slow Cooker Ham and Beans recipe and decided to give it a try since the ingredients looked good.

It's been awhile since I cooked dried beans (I like pinto, red, and kidney) and, silly me, forgot you had to soak them.  I put them in a container with water and soaked them for about 7 hours.   My finger is about where the dried beans level was.  I decided to try one and my word they are good!  Kind of like a cross between a raw pea and a raw lima bean.  I may have found a new favorite snack.  LOL!

So I added everything to my crockpot.  I must say the broth tasted good.  I can't wait to try the whole dish.

I plugged my cockpot into my trusty timer and set it to cook over night.

Like I said, I can't wait to try them tomorrow.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

Now for the fudge.  I wanted a quick easy sweets recipe. I found this Two Ingredient Strawberry Fudge recipe on Pinterest.  No mine isn't strawberry, i'm not much of a strawberry person unless they are fresh.  I got the funfetti chocolate fudge (I think that's what it was.  It was one of those chocolate ones).

It was super easy.  It turned out pretty cute and wasn't bad tasting, but my family and I couldn't get over the fact it tasted like chocolate frosting.  I plan to take the rest of it to church Wednesday evening to the weekly supper before Bible Study.  I probably won't be making this again unless I can figure out some way to seriously improve it.  Guess I need to find an actual fudge recipe and give it a try.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!  

Crockpot Gravy

Ok, so I didn't just make gravy, I cooked  some meat along with it.  I have finally mastered making crockpot gravy though.  This recipe is my stand by.  Any kind of meat that you want gravy with will work.  This time I used 4 cube steaks.  I salted and peppered them for seasoning.  I added 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup to the bottom, added my meat (with a little soup in between to prevent them from sticking together).  I used a secon can of soup and mixed in a packet of onion soup mix and spread that on top of the meat.  I added 1 cup of beef broth and set it on low to cook for about 4 hours. When the meat is cooked, remove it and turn the slow cooker on high until the gravy starts to boil.  To thicken it I figured approximatly 3 cups of liquid (he cans are almost 16 ounces of concentrate and then 1 cup of broth) so I added 3 TBSP of corn starch and just enough water to make a paste in a measuring cup.  When the gravy started to boil I added in the cornstarch and stirred a little.  It didn't take long to get thick. I heated some water and mixed up some instant potatoes.   A very yummy meal indeed!

Crockpot Philly's

Crock-Pot Philly's​ are amazing!  So easily made too. The best part is having supper nearly ready when you get home.       I doubled the recipe and we actually got 2 meals out of it. 2# beef (I just use what is on sale) 1 envelope onion soup mix 1 can beef broth 6 (at least) hoagie rolls 6-12 Cheese slices (we used Swiss) I used fresh sliced onions, green and red bell peppers and sliced fresh mushrooms. I don't know quantity because we also cut them up for making stir fry at the same time. Put it all I. Your Crock-Pot on low for about 6 hours. The left over broth would be amazing made into vegetable beef soup.  I have not done this but I just might next time I make this. Hubby and I just dipped bread in it.  We have always called that "sop". I buttered and toasted our rolls in the oven then added the beef/veggie mixture and covered it with cheese. I stuck it back in the oven to melt the cheese. These are amazing!  Every time I make them there never seems to be enough. Linked with Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Cooking Thursday

I Found Another Favorite

SO I was digging through stuff to get one of my ZOTE laundry bars to make more laundry soap the other day and I came across this Taste of Home cookbook from 1998.  I'd forgotten about it.  I've been enjoying looking through it and reading my notes on recipes.  I have found a few new recipes I want to try that I haven't made before.

Hard Boiled Eggs

One thing we really like is hard boiled eggs.....with or without being deviled.  It has taken me a few years (I don't make them all the time) but I finally have perfected making them.  Finally, most of the time, I can cook them perfectly and be able to shell them without tearing up the white.  It's the times I am distracted or trying to do too many things at once that I have a disaster and they don't peal right.

Here's how I make them.  I use my sauce pan.  As you can see I can cook 10 at a time.  I add enough water to just cover the eggs.  I add white vinegar and salt.  These I don't measure, but if I were to guess it's be about 1/8 to 1/4 cup vinegar and maybe a rounded tablespoon of salt?  I cover the pan with my slow cooker lid, it's clear and it fits perfectly on the pan, and wait for the water to boil.  I don't let it come to a rolling boil, but more than just the little bubble boil.  Maybe a medium boil.  Is there such a thing?  I then turn the heat down to low and let the eggs cook for 12 minutes.  When time is up I immediately run cold water in the pan to stop the cooking process.  I change the water several times since the eggs keep heating it up.  After a few times I add ice to the pan and fill with water until the water and ice are even.  This really cools down the eggs.  When the eggs are cold I then remove them and put them in the refrigerator. 

How do you make hard boiled eggs?

Thanks for stopping by!

Crockpot Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potatoes -- Cooking Thursday

I found this recipe twice on Pinterest. One was a crockpot version the other an oven version. Being the busy person I am I opted to make the crockpot version first.  It was pretty good. Both Hubby and I agreed that it was better the next day as leftovers.  Next time I make these I want to make the oven version.  The potatoes should be more crispy. (I'll share that when I DO try them in the oven.) Also I only used about half the ranch seasoning mix.  Next time I think I will use the entire package.

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potatoes

(Link to original recipe)

Here's what you need:

A crockpot

Aluminum foil

Non stick cooking spray

Potatoes (I think I used 12)

Ranch dressing mix

Cheddar cheese or cheese if your choice

Bacon (I used 6 strips but more would be good too)

Line your crockpot with foil leaving enough extra to fold down over the potatoes, making a package.  Spray with non stick cooking spray.

Cook your bacon and set aside to cool so you can crumble it.

Peal and cut your potatoes.

Put potatoes in a single layer in the bottom of your crockpot. Sprinkling with ranch mix, cheese and bacon. Repeat two more times. 

Save some cheese to add later. 

Fold foil down over the taters, put lid on and cook on low about 8 hours or on high about 4 hours.  

When done cooking,  turn off crockpot and sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top, cover and let melt.  Takes a couple minutes.

I served these potatoes with Dorito Crusted Chicken Strips, which in Hybby's, Youngest Son's and My opinion, needs work.  It was good, but not worthy to make again, without some changes.

If you make either of these recipes I shared today, stop back by and let me know what you thought and/or any changes you made.

Linking up with Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Cooking Thursday

Kielbasa and Potatoes

This was pretty good but I got in a hurry and didn't get the spices added and the potatoes needed to cook a little bit more. My excuse: I was hungry.

If you want to give it a try you can get the recipe HERE.

Joanna commented on my HHM post from earlier today on how I prepared my potatoes.  Well.....I roughly chopped them (chopping vegetables isn't something I'm good at) and pre cooked them in the microwave for about 8 minutes on high.  Next time I think  maybe more like 10 to 12 minutes would be better.

I cooked this in the skillet and my kielbasa didn't produce much grease to cook the potatoes in, so I added a couple heaping tablespoons of shortening to my skillet.

I did get salt added, at least I added that.  LOL!  I'll try this again.  Maybe next time I can get good fried taters (not good at that either) by microwaving them a bit longer and remember to add the rest of the spices.

Need to make menu changes.......and Tonights YUMMY meal

Ok, now I remember WHY I don't buy meat at Country Mart, the "expensive" grocery store.  It should be more of a no brainer when it's cheap on sale.  This package of pork smelled ok, and looked ok.....until I was to the last 3 pieces on the tray.  It smelled funny and when i turned it over this is what I found

yes....it's GREEN!  I had had it a few days so I know the store wouldn't be willing to refund my money, especially after I called them on trying to over charge me on my rain-check chicken (maybe a blog for another day, LOL!).  Hubby, who used to work in a meat dept right after we were married, said this was obviously done on purpose. the meat was most likely bad when it was packaged up.

I don't care HOW cheap their meat is, I will not buy meat there again.  This isn't the first time I've had problems.  I can't count all the times I've had problems with meat at this store.  The other store, which is Save-A-Lot, I can only remember one time that I have gotten bad meat.  ONE TIME compared to too many to count.

I will be working on the menu the next couple days, since I will most likely shop on Sunday, at Save-A-Lot.  I will share what I come up with on Monday.  What currently is in the freezer is listed on the column to the right.  The Kielbasa will be made from scratch, or maybe tossed in the freezer for a future cooler evening.

Ok, now for the YUMMINESS!

this was absolutely AMAZING!  It is the Crockpot Beef and Gravy.  Other than maybe serving over noodles instead of potatoes, this is perfect, and I think I have 2 of these in the freezer.  Why?  Well because I didn't buy everything from the store that I needed for the recipes I wanted to make.  *sigh*

Tomorrow I think I will put the Cilantro Lime Chicken in the cooker.

The next 2 nights are going to be busy, in fact my living room is half cleaned for tomorrow because there are people here playing games (MTG  magic the gathering).  I am happy to say that my dishes are done, and I think I still have time to go bread the rest of the cube steaks so I can put some chicken fried steaks in the freezer, before THAT meat goes bad.  It was bought at country mart as well.

TTFN  I probably won't be back until Sunday or Monday.  Both Friday and Saturday are busy nights.

Yes and NO!

So for Saturday evening I decided to put the Balsamic Glazed Chicken in the cooker.  I opted not to eat any because #1 it's pretty acidic and #2 I'm not a big chicken fan.  Hubby ate it but said he didn't really care for it.  To me it doesn't even look appetizing.  So this is a NO FIX again.

Sunday lunch was AMAZING!  Roast, taters, gravy and homegrown corn on the cob.

For supper I fixed the Pizza with homemade sauce.  I wasn't too sure about the sauce,  but the crust smelled and looked good.  Even tasting the sauce before I made the pizzas I was saying how I didn't have good feelings about it.  It turned out really good.  There is actually none left.  Next time I DO need to pre-cook the crusts a little longer though.

SO, 2 were good, 1 was bad.  Tomorrow I think I will fix Cincinnati Chili. 

Crockpot Ravioli

Friday was a whirlwind of events.  It usually is.  Since we were out late and busy Thursday night and I wasn't able to fix what I had planned, therefore we didn't have any leftovers, so we had to eat McDonalds $1 burgers for lunch.  Not my favorite, they just don't taste good anymore.  SO, I made one of my quick crockpot meals that doesn't need a lot of prep, Crockpot Ravioli 

It went in to crock at about 3:00 and was ready by 5:30/6:00

I've made this several times, in fact it used to be a weekly thing when the boys were little.  I haven't made it in probably 5 or so years, so I've forgotten all my tricks.  Time to remember them though.

This was pretty good.  I used cheese ravioli's and a meat based spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese. Next time I make it I'm using 2 jars of sauce and 2 bags of cheese.  Hubby likes it saucier and I cheesier.

It didn't last long, this is my portion. 

I had a house full of people again last night.  We shall see what happens for today's supper (Saturday).  I need to look over what I have made up and get something in the slow cooker here before too long or we will be starving.  Another night for a full house.

Root Beer Chicken

Tonight we had the Root Beer Chicken.  You can see the original recipe HERE.

Root Beer Chicken with mashed potatoes and homemade chicken gravy.

We got off to a rough start.  I set the alarm on my phone to remind me to put the chicken in the crockpot to get it started cooking, on low for about 3 hours, which I had another alarm set to remind me to go drain the grease/broth off and add the root beer sauce.  Two hours after I started cooking hubby texted me "The crockpot isn't plugged in".  UGH!  Now what!  I asked him to plug it in and turn it on HIGH, hoping supper wouldn't be too much later than planned.  He also folded a towel up and put it on top of the lid to help hold in the heat. (I think that worked)  At this point we had about an hour before we would be home.  I had the pizza crusts pulled from the freezer, just in case, so we did have something for supper.  It ended up working out pretty good as we had customers in our store that stayed and chatted for 30 minutes after we were supposed to be closed.  They are good customers, we didn't mind.  By the time we got home, the chicken was done.  I drained the grease/broth off and added the root beer sauce, made the mashed taters in the microwave, and decided on a whim to make gravy with the chicken drippings while the chicken finished cooking.  I looked and looked for a homemade chicken gravy recipe and didn't find one, so I just went out on a limb and did my own thing.  The gravy was OK, but it needs a LOT of work.

Now for the chicken.  It wasn't bad, even for me, who doesn't really care for chicken (unless it's processed).  Hubby said he thought it would be better if the chicken was cooked in the oven and the sauce was basted over the chicken.  I wonder what it would taste like if it were marinated in the sauce.  I also wonder if it would be better if the skin were removed, hubby said leave it on.

We did like the chicken, and I do plan to make it again.  the gravy.......yah well, it may end up in the trash. ;-)

Tomorrow night we're having homemade pizza. The temps outside are supposed to be cooler, so using the oven for a bit and not having the AC on shouldn't be too bad.  I will also be cooking up the hamburger patties I premade and using THIS SEASONING on them.  I've made them before and learned I needed to add more seasoning.  Just tasting it before adding to the hamburgers it was pretty spicy, but the spice wasn't as noticeable on the hamburgers once they were cooked.  The hamburgers will be for Friday night, something we can heat and eat, since the arcade will be open.

Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteak

So Day #2 of my menu (Day #1 needs work in my opinion, I have another made up and in the freezer, so when I'm satisfied with it I will share) we had   Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteak.  OH MY this was GOOD!  Simple and easy too.

My picture doesn't do it justice.....

You can find the recipe and instructions HERE on the Budget 101 web page.

Here's what I did different than the posted recipe:

• I used beef that was on sale
• I bought a bag of frozen fajita vegetables which had onion, and red, yellow and green peppers. (it was cheaper than buying the fresh vegetables)
• I only had to cook on LOW for 4 hours.  (Maybe my cooker is hotter than theirs, I'm finding cook time is less than suggested time on the recipes I've tried so far)
• I toasted the buns, and melted the cheese under the broiler in my oven
• We added Mayo to the bun

Next time I will try:

• a little more seasoning, maybe salt & pepper?  It needs a bit more
• more cheese, 2 slices instead of one maybe
• "specialty mayo" something tastier than just plain mayo.  

This one didn't get frozen, it looked and smelled so good I knew I had to make it soon.  I will be making this again.  It will probably freeze just fine.

Tomorrow is Root Beer Chicken......if it's good I'll share the recipe.  Of course you can always go look yourself on my menu if you can't wait on me.

Homemade Drink Mix

I can't stand drinking plain water, and I don't like it with lemon.  Most of the time added flavor is needed to cover up the flavor of city water, even when it's filtered.  I've been buying the drink "singles", the ones that one packet flavors a bottle of water. (This cherry lime-aid is nasty by the way)  Grape is my favorite, but it always leaves an aftertaste in my mouth.  I remembered something I did for the boys many years back, trying to get them to drink more water (without the expensive cost of those drink singles).

Home Cooked Meal

The other night Hubby wanted something to eat after we closed (mind you that was about 9:30pm).  He want McDonalds, again, but I didn't want to go to McDonalds.  I told him since I was going to the store anyway that I would get something to fix for him.  For a little under $15, which is about what we spend at McDonalds each time for 2 sandwiches and 1 large fry, I got a container of sliced fresh mushrooms, an onion, some [cheap] steaks, and frozen corn.  This has made 2 meals already and I have enough, minus the mushrooms, to make a third meal.  

I sauteed the mushrooms and onions in butter and seasoned them with a little salt & pepper.  I fried the corn in a little butter and seasoned with a little salt & pepper, and I cooked the steak in a little butter and seasoned with a little salt & pepper.  The rolls were warmed under the broiler.  Hubby said it was way better than McDonalds, and better than any restaurant around here (which isn't hard to do, we mostly has fast food, mexican and chineese).

Each meal has cost me less than $5 to make.  The rolls the first night were left over from eating out, and the ones in the picture are ones left over from work, they probably shouldn't be served to customers, although they are fine.  We are just really picky what we serve to our guests.

Reecie's Granola

I really want to get back to eating healthy, but time is a factor that slows me down. I don't have a lot of time so I tend to just eat what is quick and available to eat.  I've eaten raw food /vegan style for a while before and I lost weight and felt so much better.  I would like to do it again.  Please, no angry words, I use ingredients I can afford and that are available to me locally.  They may not be the healthiest but they work.

I Love this granola recipe, and I get to use my dehydrator.  Enjoy!

Homemade Pop Corn and Kettle Corn

Homemade popcorn is amazing! I prefer to use Bacon drippings but I also use either crisco or coconut oil. Here is my recipe:

1 Tbsp Crisco
1/4 Cup unpopped corn

Put the Crisco in a 4qt pan and melt. (for an electric stove I put the burner temperature on about medium or "5") Add corn. Cover with a lid and shake to coat kernels.  It takes maybe a minute or two to pop. I pick pan up once or twice to shake it. When popping has slowed remove pan and pour popped corn into bowl. Be careful it's easy to burn the popcorn. I make 4 batches for my big stainless mixing bowl.

To make kettle corn use the above recipe and also add 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar on your kernels before you put the lid on and shake to mix. I got this batch a little burnt, the sugar doesn't help much.  LOL!

I am relearning how to cook on an electric stove after having a gas stove for 2 years.   I haven't had too many disasters yet.  The oven is a different story though.  *sigh*

This post linked with Creativity Unleashed Link Party No. 10

Skillet Fried Corn

I will never steam, boil, or microwave frozen corn again.  We have been making this skillet fried corn for about 4 weeks now and it is AMAZING!   We make 2.5# bag at a time.  All measurements, except the whole stick of butter, I give are approximate.  Season it to your tastes, try other seasonings.  We have tried cilantro, and it is good too.  The seasonings I added this time are the standard ones we add each time we make it.

Over medium heat melt a stick of butter in a skillet. 

(I'd already made a pan full so that's why my skillet looks "dirty")

Add the frozen corn and mix to coat corn with butter.

Add parsley.  I don't measure but I'm guessing this would be a slightly rounded tablespoon.

Add sugar. I'm guessing this is about 2 teaspoons.

Probably about a slightly  rounded  teaspoon salt

About a rounded teaspoon pepper

Mix together and cook until hot. I think mine takes about 5 minutes.

Serve. Mmmm good.  Best corn I think I've ever had!

This post linked to The Fun in Functional Link Party #72