What can I do with this?

I had leftover mozzarella sticks, and I needed to use them before they went bad. I don’t like food waste. I recently almost cried when my green olives had mold growing on them. I did cry when the last of my cherries were all rotten. When the last 2 of my English muffins had mold, I thought that maybe it was the mold that was out to get me. Don’t even get me started on that rotten tomato. So when I remembered about these guys, I was determined to use them before salmonella took over my fridge.

Introducing the cheese stick quesadilla. It tastes like you think, and you are welcome. You could either dip it in left over pizza sauce or sour cream. I tried both and they pass the test.

All 3 judges gave it a perfect 10. In all 3 judges, I mean it is a girl night and I could never pass this off on my husband without meat.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Cordon Bleu

Happy Sunday, ya’ll! I hope you had a restful weekend spent with family and friends! Tonight I made this beautiful and scrumptious dish for dinner. I combined 2 previous recipes that I have done before here on the blog; a chicken stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon and my regular cordon blue. I served it with rice pilaf and veggies. I hope you give it a try!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts
About 9 pieces of sliced ham
6 slices Provolone cheese- (Original has Swiss, but honestly any cheese would be good).
1 package of bacon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Cut each chicken in half, but not all the way through. Take some plastic wrap and place it on top of the chicken. Pound it out very thin with a meat mallet (or pan).

Place slices of cheese and ham to fit on each chicken breast. Roll up the chicken.

Then wrap the chicken in bacon. Stick a few toothpicks in the chicken to hold it in place.

Then bake for about 35 minutes. Then turn the broiler on high and cook for another 10 minutes or so until the bacon is nice and crispy. The internal temp of the chicken should be 165.

Beef Short Ribs in Tomato Sauce

Evening guys! Plans changed and we needed to eat at home tonight, so when I saw these beautiful beef short ribs on sale today, I knew what I had to do. I live for short ribs. When I see short ribs in the store or on a menu at a hip or fancy restaurant, I always consider getting them. Love them in every way, shape, and form. I have done both beef and pork ribs on the blog, so this is not too far off base with what I have done before. They are a super delectable and can make for a very sophisticated dish, so I could probably charge you at least $22 for this entree =)

This is a one pot wonder if there ever was one! The meat can cook for hours on end in this tomato sauce; it slowly falls of the bone to create this velvety rich sauce. I served it on top of rigatoni sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan with a side of crusty garlic bread for scarpetta (Italian for sopping up sauce and cleaning your plate). You could serve this on any starchy pasta or polenta. I even served it on mashed potatoes once.

I also have made a crock pot version here.

Braised Beef Short Ribs in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

4 Beef Short Ribs
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup red wine- I used Malbec
1 cup beef broth
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 large can crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Salt and pepper both sides of your ribs.
Brown ribs in a bit or oil in large dutch oven on med. high heat, about 6 minutes per side.
Take out ribs. Add onions. Cook for about 6 minutes. Stir.
Add garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes. Stir.
Add tomato paste. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.
Add wine and stock. Stir and reduce for about 5 minutes.
Add your cans of tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add in your meat. Cover. Stir every 45 min or so. Cook for 4-6 hours.

Chicken and Veggie Lo Mein Stir Fry

Evening guys! So as I mentioned in my last post, I have not been doing a ton of new cooking this summer. Lots of easy and fast meals that don’t require much time. We have been hanging at the pool everyday the weather has permitted, the girls have been hanging out with friends in day camp and sleepovers, and I have been catching up on my magazine reading and Netflix. Today was no exception, so I decided to make a simple favorite; Stir Fry.

Making a stir fry has endless possibilities. Meat, veggies, starch, sauce…What do you choose? I have made a few different stir fry recipes on here, but there is always room for more! Here is how it went down this time.

First, I chopped 4 chicken thighs in to slices and marinated them with a few tablespoons of this handy sauce. You could use chicken breasts, but the thighs were so much cheaper, and honestly, they are my favorite. I marinated it about 20 minutes. I would not go more than an hour unless you are marinating the whole thigh/breast.

I added the marinated chicken to a bit of oil in a wok, along with all my veggies. This time I used yellow and red peppers, mushrooms, green beans, baby corn, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and a hunk of grated ginger. I sauteed it all together until the chicken was cooked through, about 15 minutes. I added the rest of the sauce. At the same time, I cooked the noodles. Once the noodles were cooked (mine took 4 minutes), I added them to the wok and turned off the heat and stirred well.

Meanwhile, I fried up these beauties using the packing directions.

Next time you are craving take out, I hope you try to make it at home. This entire meal cost just over $25 for 5 people (2 kids). Plus leftovers! Can’t beat that price! On that note, I am starting a new category; Thrifty Meals. Most of my meals are, but I know a lot of you out there are trying to stretch a dollar, so I am going to have your back! Cheers!

Happy Father’s Day!

I hope everyone out there had a great Father’s Day! We played in the pool all weekend and ate lots of delicious food. I know I’ve been M.I.A for a bit, but we have been busy with summer fun and laziness around here. Lots of repeat meals that are fast and easy i.e. burgers, spaghetti, stir-fry etc. I hope everyone is enjoying summer! Have a great week!

Peach Muffins

I made these last week, and they were super yummy! I shared with my amazing neighbors, since I am the only peach lover in the family.

Peach Muffins

Ingredients

4 peaches
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 regular sized muffin tins. These would be a great as mini-muffins or bread as well.
Mix peaches, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the peach mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!

Quiet Dinner for Mom

Tonight the girls had tumbling practice, and I dropped them off. The girls wanted eggs and cereal for dinner, and I knew that I needed something else besides that. I contemplated sushi or a gyro, but then I saw this cute little Mexican restaurant on the corner of one of the shopping centers near their gym and decided to go in for a little treat for myself. I don’t get to do that very often; go out to dinner by myself. I selected the artichoke dip and crab cakes. I may have even had a small margarita 😉 Armando’ Caribe in Duluth, Ga is amazing!