Easiest Meal EVER!!

Last night we had chicken for dinner and this is what I made with the leftovers. It took the time of bringing a pot of water to a boil and the 9 minutes of cooking the spaghettini! Definately adding it to my regular go to meals!!

Chicken Spaghettini

1-1 lb. pkg. spaghettini (I used Catelli Smart Pasta)

leftover chicken (I had about 2-3 cups)

1/4 of a red onion, diced small

dehydrated basil (I just dumped some until it looked like a good amount)

2 tomatoes, diced

olive oil

garlic (I can't tell you how much I used...lets just say alot!)

salt and pepper

So, while the water is reaching a boil, cut up your chicken, onion and tomatoes. Combine this in a large bowl with some basil, olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper. Cook the pasta until done (while this is happening keep the kids and yourself away from eating the chicken mixture because dang it is GOOD!). Add to the large bowl and drizzle with a tiny bit more olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a salad on the side. Hello, was that easy or what?? Oh, also, Ainsley added olives to hers. Parmesan would be good too, but I didn't have any.

PS-It is the dehydrated basil, not dry. Lighthouse makes one and they sell it in the produce department above the mushrooms. Feel free to use fresh....I just always keep the dehydrated stuff so it doesn't go bad on me!

Okay, so this may not be very interesting to some of you, but I'm sharing anyways. When the kids beg me to make cookies and I finally give in to their whines, I always double or even triple the batch. I then scoop the entire batch out (yes, we use a small ice cream scoop), place it on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and then freeze them. Put them in a ziploc bag and the next time the kids want cookies, all you have to do is fire up the oven, plop them on a cookie sheet and bake them for about 2 minutes longer than you normally do!
(as you may have also guessed....Ainsley eats them frozen from the freezer!!!)

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 packages instant vanilla pudding
2 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 c. flour
4-5 c. chocolate chips

Bake 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.....remember they bake while they are on the sheet cooling!

I've got a crush...

on Sam the Cooking Guy. I'm so in love with the cookbook that my dad got for my sister and I. It is fun to read, easy to make, easy to find ingredients and the food is GREAT!! My bff Karen has already ordered herself a copy after me raving and her taking a quick browse through mine. I didn't get a picture of the soup but you can imagine it was a whitish soup with lots of yummy looking things on top!

Potato Soup

2 big baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 cups chicken broth
2 red onions, diced small
2 T. butter
1 tsp cayenne, to taste
1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
3 T finely chopped fresh italian parsley
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put the potatoes and broth in a large pot over medium-high heat, cover, bring just to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes get soft, about 15 minutes. While that's happening, in a separate nonstick pan, cook the onions in the butter with the cayenne, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Then add the cooked onion, the whipping cream, and parsley to the soup. While the soup simmers, mash some of the potatoes in the pot with the back of a large spoon. This will help the soup thicken. season well with the salt and pepper.

At this point the soup is done and ready to serve, but wait - don't stop there. You serve it in bowls, buffet style with a selection of the following toppings:
- crispy bacon pieces
-croutons
-crispy thin store-bought Asian noodles
-shredded cheese
-any hot sauce you want
-diced leftover chicken, turkey , shrimp etc
-anything else you can think of


So, I didn't have red onions (I only had one white), didn't have whipping cream (I used milk) and didn't have the parsley. Sam is all about substituting if you need to and I had to, but it was still so good. (I also only used half the cayenne since the kids were eating it too). We topped it with green onions, sour cream, bacon and cheese.

Oh, also, I'm hoping I'm not breaking any copywrite laws! You all better run out and buy this book...you won't be sorry I promise!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

These little babies scream Autumn!! I found the recipe in the October Canadian Living and they are sooo yummy (I do suggest doubling the Maple Cream Cheese Spread!!!;)

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
2 eggs
3/4 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

Maple Cream Cheese Spread

1/2 of a 8 oz. pkg light cream cheese
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg; Mix in 1/4 c. of the walnuts. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, oil and vanilla. Pour over dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Spoon into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts. Bake at 375 for 20 - 25 minutes. Let cool.

Maple Cream - Beat all ingredients together and serve with muffins or on your finger if your name is Ainsley.

Easy Stirfry

So this is one of the hubbie's favorites. In fact, he told me the other day that he could eat this for every meal!!

Mama's Easy Stirfry

1 lb. ground pork, chicken or even turkey

1/2 onion, diced

1-2 T. fresh ginger (we like more!!)

1-2 t. chicken boullion

1/4 c. water

6 c. snap peas or broccoli

3 T. soy sauce

2 green onion, sliced

sesame oil

Brown the meat and the onions in a non-stick pan. Add the ginger, boullion, water, veggies and soy sauce to pan and cover. Allow the veggies to cook until they are the level of doneness that your family likes (the kids and I like ours crispier (about 6 minutes) than Craig so I cook his alittle bit longer). Drizzle with alittle sesame oil and add the green onions. Serve over rice or chinese noodles.

Deaf Ears

My kitchen (and my husband) has been calling my name.............. I've just been too busy to hear it. The kids are back in school, Girl Guides has started back up, etc, etc and I feel like I am dropping the ball on many things. As some of you know we started looking to move houses last spring. After looking at pretty much all available homes here (did I mention wasting our summer obsessing over moving???), we came to the conclusion that really, the house we are in is pretty fabulous and that we just need to utilize our space a bit better. So, we came to this decision right around the time the kids started back at school, so my days are pretty full of moving kids rooms around, building furniture and trying to organize our house. In the process I have given myself boxes of "stuff" that needs to be sorted, put away and thrown away....this has led to things being misplaced and alittle embarassment. I have had to tell several people that I can't find things and need replacements because "I'm trying to organize my house and have lost things in the process". Okay, all I can imagine is that they are wondering what kind of mess we were living in if I'm getting organized and still losing things!!!! So, this all gets me back to that I really have not been cooking...much to the annoyance of my hubbbie (funny Craig, the kids didn't mind cereal for dinner, what's with you???!!!) but I will post something that we have been making on Sundays....it was inspired by our dear friend Craig who can really wrestle up some good grub (who we are all also missing now that school is back in session)!!


Mashed Baked Potatoes

Potatoes
Butter
Green Onions
Bacon Bits

Wash your potatoes, cut them up and boil them (in salted water) until tender. (yes we don't peel them and the kids haven't even noticed...can't tell you how much I love this time saver). Hand mash them for a rustic feel and add all remaining ingredients. Add some salt and pepper if you want and Ainsley also likes cheese sprinkled on hers. My kids love these and I love them because we can have them when we aren't having gravy and they are really quite fast depending on how small you cut them before cooking. Hope that your family loves them as much as we do!