Dreamy peanut butter bars!

After defeating the horrible migraine monster, I decided to go in the kitchen to straighten up AND make my awesome husband something yummy! I have been looking at several recipes but just decided it would be best to wing it!

I started with three cups of smooth Jif peanut butter.

Next I added about 1 1/3 cups of powdered sugar and whipped it together until smooth.

I spread it into the bottom of a 9" x 13" plastic container.  Next I took one 16 ounce bag of Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips and melted them in the microwave.  Stir until they are smooth and pour over the peanut butter mixture and spread all around.

YUM! I put in the fridge to let it set up until firm and as soon as it is ready I will be serving it up to my amazing Breezy!

BUT....the most important part of this recipe?

Letting my faithful office assistant (Buttercup) like the peanut butter spoon!!

Dinner in the real world....

I don't know about you, but I don't always believe the TV chefs understand the realities of families on a budget. They often assume we automatically keep certain ingredients at the ready all the time.  The truth is, we don't have room for all of that in our budgets.

Tonight was a prime example of "what in the world do I do for dinner?" without having to go to the grocery store and spend more money. I am making chicken more often as I am trying to trim down the amount of red meat my family consumes.  Poking around my kitchen and I decided I had just about everything I needed to make Chicken with gravy over biscuits.

I put my frozen chicken breasts on to boil but I knew that without their skin the broth would not be quite flavorful enough.  I did not get any more chicken broth when I went shopping.  It is a little bit of a luxury item as it can be costly (and I really don't like to use any brand other than Swanson).  It was time to improvise.  I had a large can of Campbell's chicken and noodle soup.  Instead of opening it the normal way, I poked two holes in the top of the can and drained the liquid into a pot.  I put it on the stove with a stick of butter (you are not really surprised, are you?).  I let that come to a boil while boiling my chicken breasts in a different pot.  I added about a cup of milk to the gravy pot. Next I put about 1/4 cup of cornstarch in the bottom of a coffee cup and added about a half cup of hot chicken broth to it and stirred it up until smooth.  I added this to my gravy pot to thicken.  Various spices were sprinkled in, including garlic powder, onion powder, Mrs. Dash table blend and salt and pepper.  I added about a cup of the chicken broth from the chicken boiling on the stove as well.

I put some biscuits in the oven (yes, from a can, I really do not have time to make them from scratch unless I have a whole lot of time or it is a really special occasion).  After they came out, onto a plate, shredded some of the boiled chicken over it and then poured the chicken gravy over it.  The result was a very happy husband and son.  That's my boys! They love their meat and gravy.

No, I did not fix an veggies tonight. This was a mad dash dinner and it is what it is.  Dog-gone gravy goodness!

As for staples in my kitchen? Here is a list of things that I cannot do without:
1. frozen chicken in the bag as I don't always have money during the week to go buy it fresh
2. butter - plain and simple, can't do without it
3. fresh garlic cloves
4. russet potatoes
5. rice ( I prefer white but I am slowly working my way into using brown)
6. eggs ( a must in my house, trying to get my sweet husband to gain weight)
7. cheese (the type varies as my family goes through stages of what they prefer, currently we are on a provolone run)
8. milk - we use 2%
9. wheat bread
10.  ice cream.....another must have for the husband :o)

What do you keep in your kitchen as must haves?

Fettuccine stuffed Green Peppers

Green peppers were on sale at the grocery store.  I decided to buy four of them and make something different for dinner. I have never made stuffed peppers before and quite frankly, I am not sure I could make them as good as my mother did.  Since I was not ready to cross that threshold yet, I decided to stuff them with something different than rice like my mom did.

I broke a 1 pound box of fettuccine in half and boiled until al-dente. Don't forget to salt your water before boiling your dry pasta! It makes a difference! While the pasta is boiling, I cut the tops off of my green peppers.

I discarded the seeds and the ribs and rinsed out the inside.  I chopped the tops up and put into a saute pan with more peppers and several Vidalia onions chopped up.  Also into this pan, I sliced some Polska Kielbasa  into the peppers and onions.

I let this saute while the pasta boiled.  I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees and put the empty peppers into a baking pan.

When the pasta was finished, I drained it and put it into a large bowl with the sauteed vegetables and kielbasa along with a large jar of Pepper and Mushroom spaghetti sauce. I mixed it very well and then filled each pepper with the pasta mixture.

On top of the pasta mixture I shook a large amount of grated Parmesan onto the top. I also added some provolone cheese.  I would have preferred mozzarella but I did not have any and I was not going to go back to the store.  I baked these for approximately 25 minutes until the cheese was all melted and the peppers became tender. 

My husband loves peppers and onion and sausage so he really enjoyed the dinner!

Cherry Vanilla Cake

I needed something low maintenance for youth group. I rummaged around in the kitchen and came up with a box of yellow cake mix.  I was not in the mood for ordinary yellow so I kept looking and came up with the large size box of regular Jello in cherry flavor.  I decided why not?

I dumped the cherry jello (dry) into the cake mix and proceeded to add all the normal amount of ingredients per the cake mix's box instructions. It mixed up into a glorious red.  I taste-tested the batter and it seemed okay. Into the oven it went!

Here it is fresh out of the oven....and YES there is a piece missing already as I simply had to taste it first to make sure it was not gross! I love my youth group and did not want to send something bad.  It was  pretty good and not overtly cherry!

I topped the cherry cake with a homemade vanilla buttercream.  It must have been okay because it got eaten up at church!

Scraps from the Crack sticks!

I really enjoy making the Crack sticks.  The Shabbychicks are some AWESOME LADIES! But after making the Crack sticks I was leftover with the crusts from all that white bread.  The first time I made them, I fed the leftover crusts to the ducks in the neighborhood.  However, the ducks have disappeared! I have no idea where they went! It's not winter! I wonder if they flew North for some cooler weather?

The frugal mommy in me would not allow me to just throw them away again.  As I was making Italian pasta for dinner, I decided to turn those crusts into croutons.

I took all of these lovely crusties and cut them into squares and threw them back in the bowl. Next went in:

(1) tablespoon onion powder

(1) tablespoon garlic powder

(1) tablespoon dried basil

(1) stick of butter

Throw in the spices and mix around with the bread squares.  Melt the butter and pour over the squares and mix well.  Spread on a sheet pan and bake in the oven at 350 until dry.  Watch carefully so it does not burn.

I added these to the top of my pasta dish with a little Parmesan.  It was really yummy! And no wasted bread!!

Chicken and brown rice

Day two of healthier dinners for me and my family.  I am feeling pretty good today. I have not ingested a single "food-like" substance, white sugar or white flour thing so far.  It has taken some serious will power the later in the day it gets because I find myself craving the empty calories of soda and candy.

On a serious note, it has been discovered my husband has diverticulosis.  I am going to have to watch this man's diet a little closer and one of the first things we are going to eliminate is corn. That is kind of sad but kind of not. I reckon I will have it on special occasions but it is empty calories anyway so it is the first item to go!

Tonight is baked chicken.  I have skinless, boneless chicken breast with some Mrs. Dash table blend sprinkled on it in the oven baking.  As I am staying away from white stuff, brown rice is cooking on the stove.  This is a little bit of a problem for me as I have never really liked brown rice.  I am hoping that I will like it better now. It has been about 10 years since I tried it last.  I never realized how much of my eating involved chemicals and process.  Now don't go thinking I have jumped on the band wagon. I highly doubt I will ever give it all up for good. But for right now, it is time to get a lot healthier. I am a 47 year old, overweight woman who has a family history of diabetes and heart disease.  It's time to get real.

Tonight I actually made dinner without any butter.  Yes. I did.  NO BUTTER.  I have discovered something important.  First, I like my green beans just as they are.  I did not miss the butter I usually put on them.  Second, olive oil is a good substitute for butter.  I used olive oil to saute my veggies in and I also added a little bit of oil to the brown rice in lieu of butter.  It was pretty successful overall.

All things being equal, I would really love a nice fat piece of cake or a big bowl of ice cream right now.  I know it is going to take time to get things the healthy way.  I won't always deprive myself of these things, but for now, I will be okay.

Now it is time to go take a walk as I only have 6085 steps on my pedometer and I would really like to hit 10,000 before bedtime.

A Healthier approach....

I just spent a week in Kansas City training for my new job. Since I was staying at a hotel, I ate out everyday for lunch and dinner. There is nothing like KC bar-b-que! It was wonderful. By the end of the week, however, I was very tired of pork and beef! I was also not happy with myself and my size. I have gained a bit of weight back over the last year and it is not good.  Three of the nights in KC I spent pacing the floor trying to figure out if I had really bad heartburn or did I need to go to the hospital with chest pains.  Enough is enough.  Time for a new plan. One that I can live with and stick to. Tonight's dinner was the very beginning of that plan.

Tonight's dinner was oven-baked tilapia with roasted broccoli, scalloped potatoes and green apple slices. After consulting friends on Facebook, I put my tilapia in the oven with smashed and chopped garlic, a sprinkle of basil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, a slice of tomato and a drizzle of olive oil.  While that  baked, I chopped some more garlic and put it on a baking tray with some fresh broccoli cut up and more olive oil.  The broccoli roasted while the fish baked.  Paulina made scalloped potatoes and I sliced some apple and tossed it with a little lemon juice so that it did not turn brown.

The tilapia was very moist and I liked the tomato and basil although the Italian in me was craving some cheese or something on it! Crazy huh?  I loved the broccoli.  I had just bought it fresh today at the Farmer's Market.  It was so good! The little bits of sliced apple were a wonderful palate cleanser and I even drank water instead of kool-aide!

I am off now to take a walk!