Eggplant Rounds

So we have been without a stove for exactly 1 week. It all started last Sunday...we came home from doing a big grocery shopping day and Kevin was going to make our favorite Filipino dish. We had grand plans to make this yummy eggplant dish and lasagna with eggplant...so needless to say I had a lot of eggplant in my crisper drawer. The stove broke while Kevin was making dinner! We went out  Sunday night and had to buy a new stove, unfortunately it wasn't available to be delivered until yesterday. Our stove and oven are two separate pieces, which means more expensive. We don't use our oven that much so we decided to forego that expense right now until I get my bonus. Kevin was going to install it yesterday (Home Depot doesn't do installation and Kevin knows a little bit about electrical stuff since he works in the field), but the wires are all messed/mixed up and he didn't feel comfortable working on it so now we have someone coming to look at it. Needless to say, it has been an expensive week!

I decided to make this eggplant dish to use up some of the eggplant. I didn't know what I was doing, but decided to just "wing it" bc I was tired of eating quick easy meals. It took much longer to make since I didn't have a stove or oven and had to use a TOASTER OVEN! I had to make it in batches, but it turned out so yummy! I'm definitely going to have to try this in a "real" oven next time!

Gather it:
1 large eggplant, cut into 1.5" rounds
Olive oil, about 7 Tbsp
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried parsley
Mozzarella cheese
Pasta sauce

Make it:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, mix together olive oil, garlic, and herbs in a small plate. Dip 1 side of eggplant into mixture and place on foil lined baking sheet, oil side down.

2) Spoon small amount of herb mixture on top of eggplant and spread throughout top of eggplant. Place in oven and bake for 5 minutes. Flip to other side and bake another 3 minutes.

3) Top with pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese. I only had a block and didn't feel like shredding it. Def would have been easier with pre-shredded cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and lightly browned (I like slightly burnt cheese).

4) Enjoy with pasta and red sauce...which we did not since we couldn't cook pasta. Next time, next time!

Chicken with Tomato & Mushroom Sauce

I've been craving pasta and this recipe totally hit the spot. I've made fresh tomato sauces before, but this time I decided to add mushrooms since I had some leftover from another dish that I made. This dish was so easy and yummy...fits my requirements when I cook!

                                      

Gather it:
3 large tomatoes, diced (about 3 cups)
Mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
Large handful of fresh basil, sliced into ribbons
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp butter
4 chicken breasts
1 lb of pasta

Make it:
1) In a large pan, heat up about 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Meanwhile season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. If the breasts are thick you can pound them a little bit to thin them out and cook faster.

2) In a large pot, boil water for pasta. Cook pasta according to the directions on the box.

3) Place chicken breasts in hot oil and cook for about 5-6 minutes. Flip to other side and cook for another 4-5 minutes or until cooked through. I had to cook mine in two batches because the breasts were fairly large. Place all 4 breasts on a plate and allow to rest.

4) In the same pan, place mushrooms and allow to soften for about 5 minutes.

5) Add tomatoes, cook 5 minutes. Add garlic, butter, and basil (reserve a small amount for garnish). Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Make sure to scrape up all the yummy goodness on e bottom of the pan from the chicken!

6) In a large bowl, place pasta in bottom of bowl, top with sauce, then chicken. Add more sauce on top of chicken and garnish with basil.

It was delish! The kids loved it...even the whole wheat spaghetti. Kevin's not a fan of whole wheat pasta, but the meal really needed pasta that you have to twirl! He ended up loving it too! Kevin and I added a sprinkle of red pepper flakes to our bowls. Next time I'm going to get a wedge of Parmesan and grate some on top to help finish the dish off.

Creamy Cheesy Pasta

I've been craving pasta and Publix sealed my fate when I saw that pasta and cheese were on sale! I was originally going to make this with grilled chicken, but then I saw crab meat...and I've been craving some since Valentine's Day (which I still haven't posted about...slacker!!!). This was a pretty cheap and fairly easy dish to make! Everyone liked it and Kevin and I have some yummy leftovers for lunch!

Gather it:
1 lb of pasta (whatever shape you want)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp of butter
1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan and pecorino romano cheeses
broccoli florets (I used frozen since the fresh wasn't looking too good at Publix)
crab meat
1 small onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
dried parsley

Make it:
1. Cook pasta according to directions on the box.

2. In another pan with high sides (not a sauté pan), combine cream, butter, salt, pepper, onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook over medium heat until onion and garlic are softened and cream starts to bubble and thicken a bit.

3. During the last 5 min of cooking the pasta, add the broccoli to thaw it out. Once thawed. Drain pasta and broccoli and add to cream mixture. Turn the heat off.

4. Add the cheese to the pasta and cream mixture and toss together. Add the crab to the mixture and gently toss together so the crab doesn't fall apart.

I topped mine with a little extra cheese b/c I love me some cheese.

Cheeseburger Pasta

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and def wanted to try it. I can't believe I'm about to admit this on a public blog, but I LOVE Hamburger Helper. There...I said it! I was first introduced to this delicious concoction by some friends right after college. I've been hooked since. We don't eat it often b/c it's not all that good for you...like at all! So I was pretty excited when I found this recipe...it tastes so much better! Plus, I already had all the ingredients so I didn't have to buy anything! I did have to alter the recipe a little bit b/c 1 cup of macaroni (well penne in our case) wasn't going to feed my family of four. My hubby and kids can eat a lot and we like leftovers for lunch the next day. There's quite a few more steps than my usual recipes, but they are all super easy!

Here's my version:

Gather it:
1 lb ground turkey
3 cups of penne
4 cups of chicken broth (this is a little less than two 14.5 oz cans of broth)
1 can of Rotel (tomatoes with green chilies)
1 pkg of taco seasoning mix
1 small white onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced

Cheese Sauce:
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
1.5 cups of milk
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Make it:
1. Brown turkey. The original recipe says to drain it, but I'm lazy so I just turn the heat up on high to cook off the excess liquid. Mine's not really fatty since I use turkey and not beef so it's just mostly water. I also throw the onion and garlic while the liquid cooks off.

2. Add taco mix, broth, penne, and Rotel. Mix together and bring back to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Allow pasta to cook through.

3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter and whisk flour in 1 Tbsp at a time to make a rue. Cook for a few minutes.

4. Whisk milk in slowly and bring to a boil. Keep whisking until smooth and thick.

5. Remove from heat and whisk cheese in a little at a time until melted.

6. Pour cheese sauce over the pasta and mix together. FYI my pasta mixture had a lot of liquid until I mixed the cheese sauce in and allowed it to sit for a few minutes then it thickened up nicely.

Add salt and pepper to taste. I didn't add it to the overall dish b/c I figured there was already plenty of salt from the taco mix and I wasn't sure how spicy the Rotel would make the dish and the kids are going to be eating it too. FYI it wasn't spicy at all so I added a sprinkle of pepper and salt to my dish. The kids got theirs as is. They absolutely loved it!!! Yay!!!

You can tell they were really concentrating on their dinner! lol Kevin said both kids were so quiet and just really concentrating on eating.  

Both also asked for seconds. Here's Avery eating seconds...and was a hot mess!

Here's the original recipe.

Shrimp Linguini Alfredo

After a little Pinterest browsing, I saw a fettucini Alfredo recipe. I'm not a huge alfredo fan normally, but I was craving some. I clicked on the link and low and behold I have ALL the ingredients...well kinda. I didn't have cream, I had half and half (leftover from this recipe). I didn't have "real" butter, but the kind that comes in a tub. I didn't have fresh Parmesan, but the kind that you shake out of a bottle (my Italian mother-in-law, would be shaking her head at me!). I didn't have fresh parsley, but again the kind that you shake out of a bottle. I didn't have fettucini, but I had linguini. So I guess I didn't have a lot of the ingredients except for the shrimp and the black pepper. Anyway, I started googling to see if my substitute ingredients would work. I saw that half and half would work. I wasn't concerned about the others except for the cheese. But if it didn't work out, there's always Papa John's! I didn't didn't work off of a single recipe - most of them were the same anyway. For my first time making it, I thought it turned out pretty well. Although now that I'm thinking of it...I totally forgot to add garlic!!! WHAT?!? The recipes didn't call for garlic, but Kevin and I LOVE garlic. Darn! Well here's the version that I made:

Ingredients:
about 1 1/4 cup half and half (I only have a 1 and 2 cup measuring cup, so I eyeballed it)
about 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (fresh if you have it, but the "not fresh" kind turned out pretty yummy)
about 1.5 Tbsp of butter
parsley (fresh if you have it, although dried worked well and Parker loved helping me "cook")
freshly ground black pepper (to your taste)
shrimp (slacker me...I buy the pre-cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp, I eyeball how much my family will eat)
1 lb of pasta

(I didn't use these but will add the next time)
minced garlic
diced white onions

Directions:
Allow water to start boiling in pasta pot. Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat in a fairly large pot/pan that will be big enough to hold everything. Add half and half, black pepper, and parsley (garlic and onions, if you want). Water should be boiling around now - add pasta to pasta pot.

Add Parmesan into cream mixture in small amounts and incorporate into sauce before adding more. I started out using a wooden spoon, but found that a whisk did a better job. Allow sauce to thicken.

Add shrimp to sauce and simmer. 

Drain pasta when cooked and add to sauce mixture and toss to incorporate the pasta. I did add a little lot more parmesan cheese on top then tossed it some more. 

My early dinner b/c I had to work. The kids of course wanted to have several bites of my dinner then had a little bit more with Kevin about an hour later. 

This totally just hit the spot for me and way cheaper than going out for dinner! But, next time, I'll use regular pasta - I used whole wheat, which has that nutty flavor and I think regular will taste better. Besides, the hubby has repeatedly told me that he doesn't like whole wheat pasta. And I might as well try using using fresh parmesan, fresh parsley, and real cream and butter. lol 

Oh, and I had a side of veggies with mine...I hope the kids did too. I told Kevin to make sure to make them some sort of a veggie side dish. I forgot to ask him when I got home. 

Beef Stroganoff turned Pot Roast

I had to work last night and wanted to make an easy crockpot meal. I had bought a huge chunk of meat last week to make beef stroganoff...only I slacked and never made it. Besides I didn't have the "golden mushroom soup" that the recipe called for. Apparently this soup is hot commodity b/c I've gone to 3 different Publixes (uhhh, is that grammatically correct?) and 1 SuperTarget and none had it! I had added it to our grocery list on Sunday and I thought Kevin had picked it up when he went shopping. I rummaged through our cupboards before frantically calling Kevin asking where the darn soup was. I stared wide-eyed at the 2+ lb of meat I just cubed up and the diced onions as Kevin tells me he couldn't find any at the store.

What the heck was I supposed to do with this cut up meat and onions?!? Well I went to Pinterest of course! I realized I had all the ingredients to make a crockpot pot roast. Only "problem" is that my meat was cubed. Oh, well! Cubed Pot Roast...it's what's for dinner!

Ya'll I've made this pot roast before and it's super yummy and super easy! I pinned it through Pinterest, which led me to this blog for the recipe. As always, I tweaked mine a little bit, but not a lot. Here's my version:

Ingredients:
1 beef roast - I typically buy 2+ lb of meat, those suckers shrink a lot! Next time, I'll buy a bigger roast b/c we don't really have enough for leftovers for lunch (best part!)
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 package Italian dressing mix
1 package brown gravy w/ mushrooms
1/2 cup warm water
1 large onion
black pepper
dried parsley

Directions:
Place roast in crockpot. In small bowl, mix together all 3 seasoning packets, black pepper, and parsley. Sprinkle mixture all over meat. If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, then rub mixture into the meat. Add onions. Pour 1/2 cup warm water into crockpot. Cook on low 6-7 hours. You can thicken the gravy, but I never do - too lazy!

I usually serve it with mashed potatoes with gravy slathered all over the meat and potatoes and a side of veggies. However, since this was supposed to be a beef stroganoff, I had egg noodles to go with it. I have added some frozen mixed veggies or carrots and peas into the crockpot about 30 minutes before the time is up to warm up the veggies, but tonight I decided to go with broccoli.

Sorry, ya'll, I did not take any pics since I was in a rush trying to get everything in the crockpot so it would cook in plenty of time for me to eat it before work. Then the whole dishing out a serving was difficult b/c Avery was wrapped around my leg or trying to push me away from the counter. Avery ate some of my dinner then ate more with Kevin and Parker after I left. Apparently Parker slurped his meal down too. Make this easy meal...trust me, it's a delicious meal!

My next crockpot meal will likely be chicken and dumplings...just waiting for cooler weather, which we may get this weekend! Stay tuned for another Pinterest meal!

These are the seasoning packets I use. I've started to buy a small box of the Ranch and Italian mixes b/c I have a handful of recipes that call for these ingredients. Also, the gravy I normally buy has mushrooms in it. I like the extra texture, but Kevin went shopping and when I say buy brown gravy, he takes it literally and does not deviate...so then why did he come home with a 12 pack of Yueng Ling?!? I'm 100% positive that was not on MY grocery list!