Kitchen Sink...... Casserole!

So I'm getting some amazing R&R. A friend of mine picked me up and brought me up to her place for a few days. Dinner time rolls around, day 2. We need to finish off the leftovers in the fridge, so I told my friend that we'd make a casserole with all (or most) of her leftovers. She gave me that look. That look that said how are you going to mix Italian, American, and..... Fajitas to make a casserole?!

Trust me. Taco seasoning is a very dear friend of mine.

Here's the list of food in the fridge:

Homemade Italian stewed pasta sauce with Parmesan and basil
Corn
BBQ Chicken
Rice
Olives
Cheese
Fajita mix: onions, chicken, peppers

So I chopped everything up into small pieces while my friend mixed up some Bisquick. Everything went into a bowl besides the rice and bisquick. Mixed in about 4T of Taco Seasoning, let sit for a few minutes. Here we have the "Kitchen Sink" :).

We greased a casserole dish and put the rice in the bottom and flattened it out. On top of the rice went the Kitchen Sink ;), then topped with a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese. On top of that, went a few globs of bisquick biscuit dough.

In the oven it went @ 350* for about 30 minutes: 

See the layers? 

Literally: Gooey Goodness! 

Pizza.... everything!

So I had some Nasoya wonton wrappers and turkey pepperoni in the fridge.... I've been dying to make pizza wontons, so I made a special trip to town to get cheese. Mark this on the calendar, because I rarely go to town for ONE thing! Okay, so it turned out that I got more than one thing when I found Grands Crescent Rolls 2/$1!! So I figured I'd have some fun with it all while I was at it. 

I tried pinching the wrappers to 'seal' them but that didn't work, so I started using a fork to press the edges together and that worked almost too well. Upon frying them, they filled up with air and I was concerned they were going to pop at me, but they didn't.... 

I fried them in about 1/2" of EVOO in a non stick pan. The cheese melts down to almost nothing, but you can still taste it:  

Rather than putting the sauce inside the wonton and risking the sauce leaking into the frying oil and exploding on me, I served them in a bowl with marinara for dipping. Delicious! 

Now, for those Grands rolls I found on sale: 

I unrolled the dough rolls (keep in mind, the instructions say DO NOT unroll them). You kinda have to unroll them to make them even more perfect ;) 

Anyway, I placed two pepperoni and two tiny pieces of cheese on the strip of dough and rolled it back up: 

I used two cans of biscuits since I was cooking for 5 people. They looked like perfection going into the oven! Since my daughter's vegan, I made hers with soy pepperoni and Veggie Singles - the cheese melted and everything so you could hardly tell the difference by looking at it. She was super happy to be eating what everyone else was eating... *wink wink*

Finally.... I served these in the middle of the wontons. They were great dipped in the marinara, too! 

Zucchini pizza?

So, I've been busy doing this and that, and even cooking. I just haven't really had a chance to get on here and update with photos, so here goes!

Tonight I made the most amazing dinner. I think it had to do with the sauce. I don't know what brand it is, but it has a blank label that says something similar to Artichoke Walnut Marinara. O. M. G. I have GOT to find this stuff! I acquired it through a friend cleaning out their cupboards and it's been in my cupboard for a long time so I couldn't even begin to figure out where it came from originally. 

Anyway, I took a zucchini and sliced it long ways, about 1/4" thick. Also took an eggplant and sliced about 3/8" thick, and lathered both with sauce: 

Added cheese (Mozzarella and Cheddar)

Baked for about 8 mins @ 400* - or until cheese bubbles. 

I could not believe just how yummy this was. Even the eggplant was delicious! Who knew eggplant could be transformed that quickly! Katie even loved it (I gave her the zucchini/eggplant w/o cheese). 

Big girl!

My baby is growing up. She was sitting in her high chair this morning with some diced prunes, pears, and some crackers. She had a spoon in one hand and a fork in the other. She refused to eat food with her fingers - even her crackers! She ate all her prunes (3 total, diced in quarters), and half her pears (2 slices, diced), and one cracker - WITH HER FORK! She loved it! That was the first time for her that she used utensils on her own and she was so proud. So am I of course :)

I made mac n cheese from scratch today and OMG it was fantastic! It was simple, and it took me about 10 minutes. I couldn't even get pics because I don't have my camera and my housemate is gone with her camera. Darn!

Ingredients:
Margarine
Flour
Milk (I'm going to try this next time with soymilk so Katie can eat it!)

Noodles
Cheese of choice

First, I got a 16oz bag of rotini noodles boiling. I wanted a noodle that would retain the cheese.

In a small (8") frying pan, I sautee'd a small onion, sliced thinly. 

Next, in a 10" frying pan, I made a roux/rue/howeveryouspellit: melted the margarine then mixed in the flour. It turned into a paste but I let it cook for a few minutes whipping it the whole time. After about 3 mins of cooking the flour/butter, I added milk and salt/pepper to taste.Whipping constantly, I cooked it until it was the consistency I wanted it. I think I could have used more milk to make it go farther but I think this was perfect. Take it off the burner if you have an electric stove!

Once the rue was the consistency I liked - sorta like applesauce - I mixed in the onions and about 1/2c shredded mozzarella/provolone mixture and about 1c diced monterey jack cheese. Then mixed all that with the now drained noodles.

Once it was all mixed together, I put it in a casserole dish and topped it with crumbled Club crackers. I baked it at 400* for about 10 minutes - just enough to give the top a crisp and melt the cheese.

I so wish I had pics!! It turned out perfect!! There are leftovers though, so I might get some yet.

Sweets

Today, I had some more fresh raspberries that Katie wasn't eating. Of course, once I wanted to start cooking with them, she wanted to eat them! After I convinced her they were all gone, I was able to start cooking.

First, I started with cheesecake cupcakes. I was going to mix in some of the raspberries but totally spaced on it. Oops! They turned out fantastic anyway, and only took about ten minutes to prep! I got the recipe from here but I'll post it as well how I made them.

You'll need to make a graham cracker crust, so crumbled graham crackers, brown sugar and butter mixed together and pressed into the bottom of your cupcake cups.

Now, for the filling, you'll need:

2 packages of room temp cream cheese
3/4 c powdered sugar
2T lemon or lime juice
1tsp vanilla flavor
2 eggs

Mix together in a mixing bowl. I used my electric mixer and once I broke through the cheese I was able to mix on high for about 3 minutes. It'll be a little lumpy but don't worry, that bakes out.

Spoon into cupcake cups. Bake at 350* for about 18 minutes.

Here's what they bake out to. Super smooth and yummy! 

Let cool, then chill. I didn't "chill" them, I only let them cool. I think they'll be a lot better once COLD!

 

Now, my one regret was that I did not add brown sugar to the crust, so the graham crackers crumbled out and didn't stay together. Next time, I'll add brown sugar to hold the crust together. 

 

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 Now, I reduced the raspberries with some orange liquer and strawberry soda. About 5 minutes after they started boiling, I added about 2/3c of sugar.

I used the leftover graham cracker crust for the raspberry whateveritis.

I poured the raspberry reduction over the crust, then placed some Grand's biscuits on top. Baked at 325* for about 20 minutes. We enjoyed it with some Reddi-Whip! 

Pizza Biscuits...

Guess who's back up to par? Miss Katie decided to go through one of my Christmas bags yesterday. She had a great time playing with the garland and making a mess of it on my bed. I think my bed is still sparkly, but it was worth it watching the confused look on her face when she "pet" it saying "niiiiice" like she would a doggy!

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Well, I haven't got around to the homemade tortillas yet, but I did have some fun with biscuits and muffin tins! I have a bunch of biscuits I scored, so I put some in a muffin tin and squished them down, making a perfect pocket. Then I put a piece of cheese and some pepperoni in the pocket on half of them. The other half, I mixed brown sugar and butter and filled the pocket with that. 

I placed them in a low oven (325*) for about 20 minutes. 

The sweet ones don't look too great, but boy they sure tasted great! I liked the pizza ones too. I didn't use pizza sauce but it wouldn't hurt to try it, or to dip them into it. 

Yummyyyyy! 

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Back to school!

I am going back to school! Today I started 3 online workshops to assist me in jumping back into the online learning environment. It's a bit different than the online learning I did to get my Associates' degree, but at least I'm in the same school: University of Phoenix. Classes start next Tuesday! Meanwhile, the 3 day workshops take up a lot more time than I'd anticipated. Definitely a lesson on time management for me.

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I baked some tofu yesterday. A little bit about me: I LOVE TOFU! I consider myself a bit of a tofu connoisseur because I'll try it any way at least once, and I'm super particular how it *should* taste, versus how some places serve it. Rather than fry it like I usually do (baking = less oil = still working on losing that 40 lbs!), I baked it! And boy was it delicious! I don't like soft/soggy tofu. It's gotta have some texture to it, so I was kind of wary of baking it. Here's what I did: 

Got a simple metal cake pan (I am pretty sure this'll work better in a glass pan). Placed a whole brick of Azumaya firm tofu in the pan, poked a few holes in the top with my finger, drizzled with about 2T of EVOO and made sure it coated the whole brick (and underneath so it wouldn't stick). Then I added about 2T of liquid smoke, sprinkled with seasoned salt, and placed in a 375* oven for about 45 minutes. UNCOVERED! I believe covering will make it soggy and the point is to dry it out a little bit in keeping it uncovered. Once it was browned on the edges and a little tough on the sides, I removed from the oven, let cool, and had a fantastic lunch. Even Katie enjoyed it! 

Note: This would work great with extra firm tofu as well.

She makes me laugh

One thing I gotta say, my daughter is hilarious! Rewind a few weeks...

My camera broke so I've only just sent it back to the factory for a warrantied repair. So I have been forced to revert to my 4 year old point and shoot digi that captures red-eye in 19 out of 20 photos. So bear with me when every photo has red eye in it.

I dug out the old camera yesterday and started shooting. In Katie's first year, I captured at least one photo a day for her whole first year. Lately, I'm lucky to get one a week!

This is when we were playing with raspberries last night: 

How can you not smile at that?

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Last night I whipped up a cake. I wanted to use the last of the raspberries, so I pulled out some cake mix I had laying around. Bear in mind, I don't like cake. Usually it tastes eggy and it just isn't worth the calories to me. SO, when I do have cake mix, I have to add my own little twist to it:

I used about 3T of lemon juice, tore the raspberries in half and put them in after I mixed the batter. Baked according to the directions on the box and voila! A yummy cake! No eggs, no oil, and the soda is simply flavored soda water so no added sugar.

I may have over cooked it and forgot to grease the pan last night, but it still tasted super yummy!

Breakfast time!

I have a new favorite. It's great for on the go breakfast, portion control, and it's delicious! These breakfast cupcakes are simple, super quick, and most of all - delicious!

You'll need:

Cupcake pan
As many eggs as you do cupcake slots
Cupcake cups (optional)
Spray oil/nonstick spray
Potatoes (chopped, tater tots, rounds or however you like your potatoes)
Seasoning of choice (I like salt/pepper)
Cheese of choice

Optional add-ins:
Chopped peppers/onions
Bacon bits
Chopped ham
Crumbled sausage

Prep:

• Spray cupcake pan or cupcake cups with nonstick spray
• Layer bottom of cup with potatoes (with potato rounds, I use 3 rounds)
• Crack egg over potatoes
• Sprinkle egg with seasoning
• Dash of cheese on top

Bake:
Place in a 400* oven for 15 minutes. Keep in mind, I like my eggs well done, so the timing can vary depending on how you like your eggs. Well done is also more freeze friendly for meals on the go.

It goes great as is, or dipped in your favorite sauce. I like buffalo sauce.

Cute, huh? I used the cupcake cups left over from Katie's birthday party.