Easy Goulash (New Food #17)

Easy Goulash
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 6 hours (low) or 3 hours (high)
Stand: 5 minutes

1 pound of lean ground beef
1/2 of a 24 oz package frozen loose-pack diced has brown potatoes with onions and peppers (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, undrained
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 oz)
Hot cooked noodles

1 - In a large skillet, cook ground beef over medium heat until brown. Drain off fat.
2 - In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker, stir together meat, frozen potatoes, tomato sauce, and undrained tomatoes.
3 - Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours. Turn off cooker. Sprinkle cheese over meat mixture. Let stand for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve with noodles.

~~ makes 4 servings

Per serving: 535cal., 33g fat (14g sat fat), 109 mg chol., 1371 mg sodium, 34 g carbo, 4 g fiber, 27 g pro.

It was SOOO good. I made it a bit different (ha is that new!). I used a full bag of 2kg of hash browns, and I mis-read tomato sauce to tomato soup (I figured it out as I opened the can) so ours had a can of tomato soup and some tomato sauce. I didn't have any onions in the hash browns so I cut up 1/3 of an onion. I added in the diced tomatoes and put in some spices with basil, garlic and oregano (since my diced tomatoes didn't have any). But dang it was SOOOO good and SOOOOO filling. I ended up getting 1 HUGE helping, 2 small helpings. As well as 5 meals for Arnold for work and a HUGE container in the fridge I have been eating each lunch day. It's sooo good. Oh and noodles were egg noodles! Enjoy

Wordless Wednesday - Cute boys!

Chicken Vesuvio (New Food #16)

Last night I wanted to do something Cool for our C&C group. I've always loved preparing HUGE meals and having the C&C'ers over always gives me a reason to make something fun or better.

Last night I made a roast chicken... well actually 2 of them! No Frills (a grocery store in Ontario) had a sale on whole chickens last week so I picked up 2 - 4 lbs chickens for $6.00 each. It was a great meal.

Chicken Vesuvio:

1 whole chicken (about 3 3/4 pounds)
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 large backing potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into quarters
Salt and Lemon Pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Place chicken, breast side down, on rack in a large shallow roasting pan. combine oil, lemon juice and garlic; brush half of oil mixture over chicken. Set aside remaining oil mixture. roast chicken, uncovered for 30 minutes. Turn chicken breast side up. Arrange potatoes around chicken in roasting pan. Brush chicken and potatoes with remaining oil mixture. Season with salt and lemon pepper seasoning. Roast chicken and potatoes, basting occasionally with pan juices, for 50 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken thigh, not touching bone, registered 180F

~~ Makes 4 to 6 servings.

WOW was this good! What I didn't do right (and just realized now) was the putting the chicken on a rack! I just laid them on the pan. I cooked one in a glass baking dish and the other in a foil one we had left over. It worked well.

I also didn't have lemon pepper seasoning so I used some lemon and herb seasoning. It was really good.

I served with potatoes it was cooked with (oh yeah cut those smaller, they cook faster) as well as beans and carrots.

Enjoy!

New Food #15 - Pesto-Coated Baked Chicken

Claudia came over for supper, and to chat about our study for the weekend, last Thursday. We made a great meal. Everyone helped it was so nice!

We made:

Pesto-Coated Baked Chicken

1 pound of skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch think cutlets
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of prepared pesto
1 1/2 teaspoons of sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon of pine nuts (optional)

1 - preheat oven to 450F. Arrange Chicken in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Combine pesto, sour cream and mayonnaise in a small cup. Brush over chicken. Sprinkle with cheese and pine nuts.

2 - Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cooked through.

~~ Makes 4 servings

Variation: Chicken can be cooked on an oiled grid over a preheated grill.

We made it like above but had no grate Parmesan cheese so we just used our shaker one instead. Kyler and Claudia mixed everything up and it tasted SOOOO good when it was done. I served it with broccoli (steamed) and broiled potatoes

Incredible Weekends!

This past weekend I went with my 'girls' from youth group. We went up to a cottage (thank you) and had so much fun! We got their Friday night and had a session, snack and then bed. Saturday I did my walk in the morning (on the hill from 'down under') and then came home and had breakfast. Once all the girls were up we walked to MBC and back. Had lunch and did a big nap time for everyone. We had one more walk, down the crazy hill, took a TONE of photos and then back up again. After supper Claudia and I did our session during Earth Hour. We had a Q&A period then off to bed (at least for me). Sunday morning was more of packing and getting ready to head out. We got home around 4pm or so. It was an incredible weekend. I learned so much more about the girls in our youth group and how much they love each other. It was so cool.

Here are some photos of everyone who went. The photos were not all taken by me (actually Maddy had my camera for a good chunk of the weekend so alot were done by here) I just edited them when I got home. I encourage you to pray for these girls. There is so much against Christian Teens and they could use all the prayers we can spare :)

Enjoy:




Rachel D


Mandy - incredible photo taker (the one above of Rachel is one of Mandy's photos)


Skyler(t)


Tanya - our faithful helper with everything from dishes to cleaning! We love you Tanya!


Taz (Tanya's Daughter)


Rachel B


Cecilia


Maddy - the one who had my camera :)


Katrina


Adrianna


Sue - leader for the Grade 11 and 12s


Jaime - our driver of luggage! Without her we would have nothing to wear all weekend, and no keys to get into the cottage! Thanks hunny!


Anna


Tyler - leader for the Grade 9's and 10's


Karin - another driver and one who helped clean and cook! Thanks again!


Claudia - leader for the Grade 7's and 8's


Trisha - our floater leader. She goes where is needed and we love her for that.


Our whole group - Missing is Karin and Me

Crazy Busy!

Oh my! This weekend was alot of fun. I was out with 'the girls' (the youth group girls and leaders). We had so much fun and took SOOO many photos. I promise to update soon.

Easter Treasures

My favourite part of Easter, ok well one of them, is my favourite candy!

I took alot of photos and I can't figure out which one I like better, what do you like?

Chicken Pomodoro with Tomato Basil Garlic (New Food #14)

On Monday I made a nice meal for our C&C'ers. I love cooking for other people. Seriously it's good!

ok so :

Chicken Pomodoro with Tomato Basil Garlic

4 teaspoon olive oil
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cans (14 1/4oz each) Italian-style stewed tomatoes
8 teaspoons Mrs. Dash - tomato Basil Garlic Seasoning
1/2 cup semi-dry white wine (optional)

Heat oil in nonstick skillet. Add chicken and brown over medium heat about 10 minutes, turning once. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 15 minutes (Makes 8 servings)

Prep time - 10 minutes
Cook time - 25 minutes






Now I did a few different things.

I used 4 chicken breasts and sliced them the 'long' way to make double (plus a bit)
I didn't use mushrooms... eww!
I didn't use the "Italian-style stewed tomatoes" I couldn't find any! So instead I used regular diced tomatoes (I didn't have stewed as well). Also I mixed in some Italian seasonings.
I can't find the Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil Garlic Seasoning. It's not made anymore, or just not made where I look. I used a bit of basil seasoning and some fresh garlic
I also didn't use the white wine... I hardly *ever* have wine in my house so yeah....

I mixed it all the same way as it suggested. It was good... like REALLY good!

Enjoy!

March Break Day #8 - Sunday

Sunday was our last day. After Church Nana and Papa brought Amber home to her parents house and we napped!

Enjoy our last bit of photos:



























































Before church we had our necklace stuff :) We made them and had so much fun the kids loved it!