Adventures in Cooking-"DUMP soup"....hahahaha

What's on the menu tonight?!  Yummy, easy stew with cornbread!  Perfect for a November night indoors with my boys!

"Dump Soup"--not the most appetizing, but it's called this b/c you LITERALLY just dump everything in together

1 can Rotel
2 cans Minestrone
2 cans Ranch Style Beans (I only use 1 can b/c my hubby doesn't really like beans)
1 8oz jar Cheez Whiz
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1 bag shell pasta (optional)


Brown ground beef and drain.  (Also, cook and drain pasta if you opt for this addition) Dump all ingredients into pot (or you can use a crock pot and slow cook) until melted and hot.  READY TO SERVE!!!!

We are having this tonight with cornbread! The minestrone and rotel give you plenty of good veggies, and the beans and ground beef (or turkey) give you a good healthy protein!

Adventures in Cooking: Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes

Well, hello there.  It's been awhile since I've talked to you!  As you all know, my adventures in cooking have begun.  It was always a little hard for me to believe that cooking at home was actually cheaper than eating out.  I mean, you have to buy ALL the ingredients for every single meal.  However, I have been pleasantly surprised.  After 3 weeks of cooking on a regular basis (at least 4-5 nights a week), my grocery bill was literally cut in half for the week.  Reason being, now that I have most of the mundane ingredients for cooking in general, I didn't have to buy seasoning, spices, oil, etc.  And this family of 3 literally has good food for every meal for the next week for under $50!!! YAHHOOOOOO Here is a VERY easy recipe I tried on Monday.  It was delicious!

Pork Chops & Scalloped Potatoes:

2 Pork Chops
2 Potatoes
2 cups Milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese

PreHeat oven to 350 degrees. Season pork chops with salt & pepper as desired.  I used Lawry's Salt and Pepper generously coating the chops.  Cut potatoes in slices and layer on the bottom of a casserole dish, then pour in milk over potatoes, then cover with shredded cheese.  Lay pork chops on top of potato/milk/cheese mixture and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

After baking, BROIL on HI for 3 minutes, flip the chop, and BROIL on HI for 3 more minutes. Pork chops should be cooked to an internal temperature of 155 degrees.

YUMMY!!!

Cooking Adventures

Something about my new kitchen has made cooking a breeze.  Yes, cooking, which I've never really had a knack for and quite frankly never really liked at all.  It's amazing to me the blissfulness of having a GAS stove.  I've always heard how wonderful it was, but since I was obviously never a "cook" persay, I really didn't give a hoot. Though I still won't deem myself a "cook" for a quite awhile, I will say that having a gas stove is one of the luxuries in life that I will never go without from this point on.  Here is a sneak peek at my little helper:

Kenwood has also been a big helper in this "cooking" mama learning process.....he completely UN-organized my spice rack the other night, but hey, it kept him busy for a good 20 minutes.  Un-organize away my little angel :)

What's on the menu tonight?  Enchilada's! Yummy.  This is a recipe from Dillon's mom, it's one of his favorites.

Enchilada Sauce:

1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/4 can water
4 T vinegar
8T sugar

Heat on stove until desired temperature is reached.

Enchiladas:

12 Corn Tortillas
1 LB Ground Beef
1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook beef on stove until brown.  Spoon into corn tortilla and add cheese.  Roll tortilla and place into casserole dish.  Continue process until all are rolled and ready.

Place casserole dish in oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and tortillas are golden.

Top with Enchilada Sauce to your preference. -- I serve my sauce on the side because some people want ALOT and some people want not so much.