Menu Monday

I hope to stick to this menu this week.

Monday: Beef Filets, "crash" potatoes, Green Beans
Tuesday: Beef Enchiladas and Spanish Rice
Wednesday: BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches and french fries
Thursday: Chicken-not sure how yet.
Friday: Disco Party with my sister so out!!!!!!

Roasted Asparagus

I never used to like asparagus. I finally found a way to eat it that I like, ROASTED. Yum. So good and easy and healthier.

I use Olive oil, minced garlic, garlic salt, and lemon pepper seasoing. Roast in oven for 15 minutes at 450 degrees.

Steak Night

Last night I wanted a really good steak. Since we can't really grill at our apartment I was nervous about buying good steak. I got over my fear because I really wanted some. I bought us 1 inch thick T-bone steaks and decided to use the broiler.





All I did was melt some herb butter (garlic salt, garlic, seasoning salt, oregano) and sprinkled with some montreal steak seasoning. Then broiled it for 18 minutes. I should have only did 15 minutes because I like them a little rarer.

Not bbq ribs, but just as saucy

I do not use the grill. I have yet to master starting the fire. Since I had the day off yesterday I decided to make something that took a little longer to make. These ribs were so tender and good. The sauce is excellent and I think I will try it with pork chops also. I omitted the carrots and celery because we don't like those two things cooked. I cooked my ribs for 2 hours.

Saucy Oven Beef Ribs

Source: Betty Crocker

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup of dry red wine or beef broth ( I used the broth)

1 can (15oz) of tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves

1/2teaspoon of dried marjoram leaves

3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

2lb beef boneless country style chuck ribs

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 medium carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces

2 medium stalks celery, chopped

1 large onion chopped

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1. heat oven to 350 degrees

2 In 13x9 inch glass baking dish, mix broth, tomato sauce, wine, thyme, and marjoram.

3. In resealable plastic bag place flour, pepper, and salt. Shake to mix. Add ribs. Shake to coat. In baking dish, beat excess flour mixture into tomato sauce mixture using wire whisk.

4. In 12 inch nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Cook ribs in oil for about 5 minutes, turning once, until brown. Place ribs in baking dish; turn to coat with sauce mixture. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to skilllet; increase heat to high. Cook carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in oil 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

5. Add carrot mixture to ribs and sauce. Cover tightly with foil. Bake 1 and a half hour to 2 hours or until ribs are tender.

Macaroni and Cheese

I love baked Macaroni and Cheese. I found one so far that I love in my Betty Crocker cookbook.

Macaroni and Cheese

Source: Betty Crocker

2cups uncooked elbow macaroni (7 ounces)
1/4cup butter or margarine
1/4cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2teaspoon salt
1/4teaspoon pepper
1/4teaspoon ground mustard
1/4teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2cups milk
2cups shredded or cubed Cheddar cheese (8 ounces) ( I add 4 oz of mild cheddar cheese too)

1.Heat oven to 350ºF.
2.Cook macaroni as directed on package.
3.While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constanly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.
4.Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Not your average Hamburgers

Last night was my night off of cooking (sort of). My BF makes great hamburgers so we decided that he would cook those. I was just going to throw some oven fries in the oven (duh), but he reminded me that we had gotten a deep fryer for Christmas. While we don't usually do deep fried food I decided to live a little and make some fries. I don't really have a recipe for his burgers (he makes me leave the kitchen while he mixes the mixture, LOL) I do know that he uses tabasco sauce and lots of seasonings. Plus he helped me take the picture and was picky about it. And YES that is regular bread instead of buns because I forgot buns at the store and we added bacon.

For the fries I just cut up potatoes and seasoned them with seasoning salt before frying them.

Weekly Menu

I usually make my menu on the weekend and then finalize it when I shop and see what is actually on sale and looks good at the store. Here is my weekly menu:

Monday: Hamburgers, fries, salads
Tuesday: Brats and fries
Wednesday: Saucy oven ribs, roasted potatoes, and steamed broccoli
Thursday: Beef Fajitas and Spanish Rice
Friday: Pizza Night

Stuffed Peppers

My Boyfriend loves my stuffed peppers. That is great because it is the one recipe that I do on my own. It is a great way to use up leftover taco meat too. I don't use exact measurments for the seasonings just to taste.

Ashley's Stuffed peppers

3 Bell Peppers

1lb ground beef (or turkey)

1 bag of boil in a bag rice (I can't make good rice otherwise)

1 8oz can of tomato sauce

salt

pepper

onion chopped

minced garlic

garlic salt

crushed red pepper flakes

1. Cook the ground beef in a skillet with onions and garlic. Sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. While meat is cooking boil the rice.

3. Cut the top of the peppers off and clean out the seeds. Then cut them in half and put on a microwavable safe plate. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Place in baking pan or on baking sheet when they are done.

4. Once the meat and rice are done combine them in a bowl. Add the tomato sauce. Mix together. Add more seasonings to your liking.

5. Fill the pepper halves. Once filled place in oven and bake for 15 minutes or until pepper tenderness is to your liking.

Chicken Marsala

Last night I tried to cook Chicken Marsala. I don't like mushrooms but I cooked them in the sauce anyways. I have been looking forward to making this. Unfortunately I was done to late and could not get a good picture. I got my recipe from cookinglight.com. Sorry for no Pic hopefully next time I make it I can add a picture to this post. I also added garlic salt and used more wine.

Chicken Marsala
Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup presliced mushrooms
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Place chicken between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound each piece to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour, turning to coat; shake off excess flour.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add mushrooms, wine, broth, and juice to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until mixture is reduced to 2/3 cup. Return chicken to pan, turning to coat well. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Sprinkle with parsley.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast and about 2 1/2 tablespoons sauce)
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Nutritional Information
CALORIES 241(21% from fat); FAT 5.6g (sat 1g,mono 3g,poly 0.9g); IRON 1.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 99mg; CALCIUM 26mg; CARBOHYDRATE 4.9g; SODIUM 308mg; PROTEIN 40.7g; FIBER 0.5g

Going Bananas

I saw that I had 2 bananas that needed to be used. I love peanut butter and bananas so what is better than peanut butter banana muffins. These muffins were good but I think that next time I will do the strusel topping which I didn't this time. I would probably use more peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Source: Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
Combine 1 cup flour, oats, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and baking powder. Whisk together milk, peanut butter, banana, egg, oil, and vanilla. Add banana mixture to dry ingredients, mixing just until moistened. Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4 full.
In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup flour, melted butter and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

MMMM Meatballs

I've always wanted to make meatballs, but could never get up the nerve too. I decided to try today with my blog for inspiration. I am serving it with spaghetti sauce and spaghetti. I may make them again for meatball sandwiches. I could sit here and just eat the meatballs with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan and be happy. What could be better than meat and seasonings. Sorry I didn't really measure stuff out I just added stuff together

Ashley's Meatballs

1lb ground beef

chopped onion

1 egg

some breadcrumbs

Oregano

basil

pepper

garlic salt

grated parmesan cheese

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix together all the ingredients

3. roll into balls and place on a broiler pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until done to your likeness.

4. Then add to sauce and simmer.

5. Enjoy

Not homemade, but just as good!!

Otis Spunkmeyer Chocolate Chip Cookies

In highschool I remember every morning going to get some otis spunkmeyer cookies. I loved them. When I found a way to order them and help a child I was all for it. So I bought a container. Tonight I was in the mood to bake, but when I went to get the ingredients my cabinet was a mess. I took everything out and then cleaned and reorganized. Once I was done with that I was out of energy, but still wanted something sweet. I remembered my frozen cookies and ta da cookies without the fuss.