Kaboobs

As my husband likes to call them. I guess he can get away with it because we did use chicken breast. Anyhow, We've had some kabob skewers for a while now and so I decided we'd better make some kabobs. I know making kabobs doesn't take a genius but, I still looked around online for recipes just get some ideas. After looking on the net and in cookbooks I decided I wanted to use chicken because we had some frozen breasts in our freezer, green pepper, red pepper, and tomato. I really wanted to use onion too but the husband doesn't like them. We seasoned them with a "secret rub". I don't know what is in the rub, it's from a family friend.

Chicken Kabobs


Ingredients:
Boneless skinless chicken breast cut in cubes
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Zucchini, cut diagonally into slices
1 Tomato cut in wedges
Marinade, rub, or seasoning of your choice

Slice/chunk veggies
Doctor up chicken and veggies
Put on skewers

Grill until veggies are tender and chicken is done.

OH and I almost forgot!! I made rice and it didn't suck! I used the microwave and was pissed to find out it was supposed to take the same amount of time as the stove. So I just cooked the rice at 100% rather than 50% and it worked. YAY!

This is what I walked in the door to, ready for the grill! YUM!

M, hard at work on our fabulous free grill!

These are a few of my favorite things

Beer + Dip! I would die happy if I could drink beer and eat dip the rest of my life. The first time I've ever had this particular dip I was an 18 year old freshman in college. Drinking was a big part of my life. I was eating eating the dip with celery and thought hmm... I swear this has beer in it. My cousin (who made the dip) tried to convince me it didn't but I knew better! I've never met a person who didn't like this dip. I get lots of requests to make it! Also, I'm trying to improve my picture taking. I live in an apartment and don't have any windows in the kitchen. So I had to take my food to the living room to get the pictures, I don't prepare food on the carpet! Just take pictures of it there!

Beer Cheese Dip



2 8oz packages of cream cheese
1 pack of dry ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup of beer
Shredded Cheese to taste
Serve with: pretzels, tortilla chips, carrots, celery....

Combine soft cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, and beer. The consistency will be weird, but just keep stirring. When the consistency becomes thick and smooth add cheese. Continue to stir
Top with cheese to taste.

A few notes on the recipe...

+Don't use 2 packages of fat free cream cheese, the consistency of the dip just won't turn out right. If you want to cut calories try a package of light and a package of full fat.
+I use whatever beer I have on hand to make this. Usually that is Bud Light. I know people who've made it with Honeyweiss and Miller Light.
+Keep stirring the mixture until the consistency gets smooth. It will look a little funky at first, but it will smooth out.
+I think the best this to eat with this dip is pretzels.

Here are a few pictures of the process....

Always a Crowd Pleaser

Today at work we had a food day! I love and hate food days. Love 'em because they give me something to look forward to at work. Hate 'em because I sa-wear I gain 5lbs by the end of the day. We always have fabulous food and today was no exception. I've really been craving my aunt's taco salad lately and today was the perfect excuse to make it.

Aunt Kathy's Taco Salad
(the pictures suck because I took them at work in the land of fluorescent lights, cubicles, and fugly yellow and blue walls.)


1 pound of ground beef or turkey.
1 bag of crushed tortilla chips
1 pack of taco seasoning/ salt and pepper to taste
1 8oz Wishbone Italian Dressing
1 can 16 oz kidney beans Rinsed and drained
1 4 oz jar of taco sauce/salsa
1 head of lettuce
1-2 large tomato sliced into wedges
1 large red onion sliced in rings
1 bag of cheddar cheese

1) Cook meat as you were making tacos. Drain and set aside.
2) Rinse and drain beans. Set aside.
3)Make your salad with all the above ingredients except for the chips, Wishbone and the taco sauce.
4)Right before serving crush tortilla chips and put on salad mix with the Wishbone and taco sauce.



Since this was for work I prepped everything the night before and combined the lettuce, tomato, and onion. I kept the beans and meat separate and added them the next day at work. (Instead of one can of red kidney beans I added 1 can of white kidney beans and 1 can of red beans, it's what I had on hand) After that I crushed my chips, and added my Wishbone and Salsa. This makes a ridiculous amount of salad and I only recommend making it if you are going to be serving it to a large group.

Stacey vs Rice

I suck at any dishes that include cooking rice. Every time we make anything the rice just doesn't taste like I think it should. There is a Risotto recipe I've been wanting to try for a while and finally got the chance to. It turned out OK. I mean it was good but my consistency wasn't quite right. I think I needed to let the rice sit a little longer and add less water. It tasted good but it was more like Risotto Soup rather than Easy Risotto.

Easy Risotto
(no pictures this time)

Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 25 minutes Stand: 5 minutes

1/2 cup chopped onion (1small)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2/3 cup uncooked arborio or long grain rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon granules
Dash black pepper
1 cup frozen peas (optional)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese


1) In a medium saucepan cook the onion in hot butter until tender, add rice. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Carefully stir in water bouillon granules, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 20 minutes. (do not lift lid)

2) Remove saucepan from heat. If desired stir in peas. Let stand, covered for 5 minutes. Rice should be tender but slightly firm and mixture should be creamy. Stir in Parmesan Cheese.

My consistency of this was not creamy at all. Just plain soupy. It was very good though. I added some carrots instead of peas. I think next time I'll add some chicken too.

Drinking and cooking don't mix!

It's the weekend and my husband and I don't have anything planned! HELL YEAH! That rarely happens. For dinner we are grillin burgers, making Chinese coleslaw, and having chips, salsa, and guacamole Of course the beer is flowing freely as well. This is where the problem lies

I prepared the dry ingredients for the slaw and set the bowl to the side. I got out a bowl to mix the ingredients for the dressing. I started with the sugar and poured it in the measuring cup and then instead of pouring it in the bowl that I set aside I poured it in the bowl with the dry ingredients. Aw hell. So I just mixed it up really well and then combined the rest of the dressing ingredients in a separate bowl.

Well it turns out the sugar on the slaw and not in the dressing isn't bad. The slaw wasn't as sweet and I liked that. I forgot to take a picture, but I don't think one is needed.


Chinese Cole Slaw


1 Bag Cole Slaw
1 Bag Sliced Almonds
1ish Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/3 cup of vinegar
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 package Ramen Beef Noodles


In large bowl, mix slaw, almonds, noodles, and sunflower seeds together. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, vinegar, oil, & flavor pack from Ramen Noodles together. Pour dressing over slaw mixture. It's best if you make this ahead of time and let the dressing sit for at least 30 min to an hour. Don't mix dressing with the slaw mixture until you're ready to eat.


Since there are only 2 of us we usually end up with leftovers. The noodles are a bit soggy the second day but too terribly bad.

Faux Comfort Food

How come some of the best tasting foods are absolutely horrible for you? Tonight I made Low Cal Oven "Fried" Chicken and Corn Casserole. They taste delicious but aren't quite as bad for you as some comfort foods. I have made the chicken before but never the casserole. It was so good!

Low Cal Oven "Fried" Chicken

10 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons fresh parsley (I use dried)
3/4 cup low calorie Italian dressing
Melted Butter

1) Combine the bread crumbs, garlic powder, pepper, and parsley.
2) Dip the chicken in the Italian salad dressing and then roll in bread crumbs.
3) Place Chicken in baking dish that has been coated with vegetable cooking spray. Brush lightly with butter.

4) Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 45 minutes.


Corn Casserole
1 can cream corn
1 can regular corn
1 stick butter
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 small can sliced green chilis
8 oz sour cream
2 eggs

1)In a large casserole dish mix the corn, eggs, melted butter, Jiffy mix, and peppers. It's okay if the mixture is a little clumpy.

2) Dollop sour cream over dish. Bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes until top is golden brown.

This was the first time I've ever made this dish. It was so good! Next time ...... I'll add another can of chilis. I love to spice dishes up. I won't put the sour cream on top. I don't like sour cream. I just scooped it off the top and set it to the side. Next time if someone wants sour cream they can add it themselves after the dish has been cooked.

Pop It

On Wednesdays I take yoga at 6:30. The minor problem with this is I get off work at 4:00 so that is a pretty big gap from the time I get home to the time I leave for the gym. Instead of plopping my ass on the floor and surfin the net like I usually do, I decided to peruse one of my cook books. I was paying close attention to the "Candies" section when I came across this recipe. I had all the ingredients so I thought, why not. M loved it!

Caramel Corn


Prep: 10 min Cook: 10 min Bake: 20 min Oven: 300 Makes: 7 or 8 cups
7 to 8 cups of popped popcorn (1 bag)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of light-colored corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1) Remove all unpopped kernels from popped popcorn. Put popcorn into a baking or roasting pan. Keep popcorn warm in a 300 degree oven while making caramel mixture.

2) For caramel mixture, in a medium saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, without stirring, for 5 minutes more.

3) Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn; stir gently to coat. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Sir mixture; bake 5 minutes more. Spread caramel corn on a large piece of buttered foil to cool. Store tightly covered for 1 week.