total slacker....i know!

Wow, long time, no post. I really don't have any fantastic excuse, just lack of motivation I guess. I have cooked some great meals and have recipes to share-just haven't taken the time to post them yet. I've done a few crafts but need to take pictures of them. I thought I'd show a couple sets of coasters my sister and I made over the holidays. I thought they turned out cute. For those interested in making them it's super easy. Just pick up some 4" tiles from Home Depot/Lowe's, throw on your favorite stamps using Stayz-On ink and apply cork to the backs to avoid scratching surfaces. I hope to get my spunk back and start posting a little more regular again! Stay tuned.....

The Comfy Nest

www.comfynest.blogspot.com

So I decided to start and additional blog to keep my home decorating experience separate from my cooking and crafting. I attached a link to it on the top of my sidebar- check it out- and if decorating is your thing, become a follower!

Triple Berry Cobbler

Wow, I've never had cobbler like this before. I've always made dutch-oven cobbler using the cake-mix crumb topping. This however is made from scratch and has an insane amount of sugar in it....but it's so good. The original recipe just calls for blackberries, but I used raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries- highly recommended. It is super good out of the oven, but it was my favorite the next day, cold out of the refrigerator. It was so chewy and addicting! Thanks again to the PW for this one. She is one amazing cook!

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, melted

1 1/4 cups, plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup milk

2 cups fresh or frozen berries

Directions:

1. Grease a 3 qt. baking dish with butter.

2. In a medium bowl whisk 1 cup of sugar with the flour and milk.

3. Whisk in melted butter.

4. Pour the batter into the baking dish and sprinkle berries evenly over the batter.

5. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the top of the berries- this will seem like a ton, just do it!

6. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. When ten minutes of baking time remain, sprinkle remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar over top.

Serve alone, with ice cream, or whipped cream, or the next day straight out the fridge- even better!

Flat Apple Pie

One word...yum! (and yes that is a bite missing before I could take the picture!) This is a recipe out of the Pioneer Woman's cookbook and it is so quick, easy, and delicious! It makes the perfect amount for my little family with no left overs, which is a good thing so we aren't eating apple pie everyday for 5 days. The recipe makes 2 of these, but I halved the recipe since my family is small.

Ingredients:

5 peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples

2 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

2- 9" round pie crusts, or 1 recipe for homemade

1/2 stick of butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Stir together apples, flour, lemon juice, sugars, and salt. Set aside.

3. Roll out pie crusts into large circles and place on a baking sheets.

4. Place half apple mixture on one crust and the remaining on the other.

5. Fold over the edges of the crust so that it covers 2-3 inches of the apple mixture. (No need to be artistic here!)

6. Dot the tops of the pies with chunks of butter. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubble. Slice with pizza cutter and serve in wedges.

*Top with jarred caramel for extra sweetness, if desired.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

My sister made this for our Christmas Eve party and it was a huge hit! It wasn't the easiest to photograph, so don't judge it by my poor camera skills. I think everyone at the party asked for the recipe. It's super easy to make and a definite crowd pleaser! Give it a try, you won't be disappointed. I'm thinking...Super Bowl Party!

Serving Size: 15-20 people

Ingredients:

5-6 Cooked Shredded Chicken Breasts

12 oz Frank's Red Hot Wing's Sauce (buffalo flavor)

16 oz Cream Cheese

16 oz Ranch Dressing

1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Cook chicken and shred. (I put mine in a large corning ware dish with some olive oil and cook covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees). Put chicken, hot wing sauce, cream cheese, and ranch dressing in crock pot. Turn heat on low and stir occasionally until everything has melted. When you are ready to serve, top with shredded cheese. Serve with your favorite kind of tortilla chips, celery and carrots.

Thanks Megan!

PBK Inspired: Collector/Book Shelves

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and exciting New Year's Eve! I am excited for 2010 and hope it's even better than 2009. I have set some new goals, one of which is to get this new house decorated, so be on the look out for photos!

Below is a Pottery Barn Kids inspired project. They sell these "Collector's Shelves" for $49 each. Of course I wasn't willing to pay that but I sure did like the look. That's when I talked to my Grandpa, showed him a picture, and ta-da! There you have it- a PBK wanna-be! I love them! Not only were they inexpensive to make, but now my kids have sentimental shelves created by their Great- Grandpa! Thanks so much Grandpa!


Here is a sneak peak of my daughter's room, the flash made the colors a little off- gave it an orange-y hue

Here is a sneak peek of my son's room as well, and just for the record, that is beadboard wallpaper- love it!

Panda Express Orange Chicken

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Costco? I couldn't live without Costco. They recently started carrying Panda Express Orange Sauce....sooo good! It really tastes exactly the same. This is my favorite entree at Panda Express so it was a no-brainer that I would buy it and give it a try. I've tried a couple other orange chicken recipes before and have not been impressed. This sauce is worth buying. I used the same recipe for the chicken as I do with my Sweet & Sour Chicken, which by the way is a must try too, and it turned out awesome! Give it a try!

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
salt & pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 bottle Panda Express Orange Sauce, from Costco

Directions:
1. Season chicken with salt & pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch, then in egg.
2. Fry battered chicken in hot canola oil over medium heat just until browned (not cooked through).
3. Place browned chicken in a single layer in a 9x13 baking dish.

4. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 325 degrees for one hour, turning chicken every 15 minutes. Serve over rice....mmmm!

Sausage & Pepper Baked Ziti

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, I know we did. Santa always seems to bring more than he's supposed to! The holidays were great and so was the food. Now I am working on taking down Christmas and actually decorating our new home.

I got this recipe out of a Woman's Day magazine and finally got around to trying it. It was really good and even the kids liked it. The sauce has a slightly creamy taste to it with the ricotta cheese....yum! Give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients:

8oz uncooked ziti pasta

2 tsp. oil

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

12oz sweet Italian sausage links, about 4

1 cup part skim ricotta

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 cups marinara sauce

Directions:

1. Cook pasta till al dente.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add peppers, onion, and sausage and cook until sausage is browned. Remove from heat and slice sausage into 1/4-in. slices.

3. Mix ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan, and parsley in a medium bowl. Drain pasta, toss with cheese mixture, sausage mixture, and 1 cup marinara.

4. Pour mixture into a 2-qt. shallow baking dish. Spoon remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered, 400 degrees, for 20 minutes, or until bubbly.

French Dip Sandwiches

Thanks to Teresa over at A Blog About Food for this yummy recipe! My family really enjoyed it and it was full of flavor. The house smelled great and it's always nice when dinner is ready with such little work involved. My husband says "it's a keeper" so I'm sure we'll be having this again soon. Thanks Teresa! (Be sure and check out her blog for other wonderful recipes too!)

Ingredients
1 (4 pound) boneless beef roast (Mine is often smaller than this, 2-3 pounds works fine too. And I usually cut it into a few pieces so it will cook faster/better.)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 beef bouillon cube
1 bay leaf
3 whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used minced garlic)
2-3 cups beef stock
package of onion soup mix
French Bread or Rolls for sandwiches

Directions
Remove and discard all visible fat from the roast. Place trimmed roast in a slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, bouillon, bay leaf, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, and onion soup mix. Pour mixture over roast, and add beef stock to almost cover roast. Cover, and cook on Low heat for 10 to 12 hours, or until meat is very tender.

Remove meat from broth, reserving broth. Shred meat with a fork, and distribute on bread for sandwiches. Used reserved broth for dipping.

El Pato

I've had a lot of people comment on both old and recent posts that they don't know what El Pato is and since I use it so often I thought I'd share. It's a Mexican tomato sauce that has chiles, onions, garlic, salt and spices in it. You can find it in the Hispanic foods section as well as the canned tomato area of the grocery store. Hope this helps!