Whew! What a busy week! We had two Rotary events and Son came home from the Bahamas with an ear infection. I'm getting ready to travel to New York two times in the next two weeks so I am still not doing any exciting cooking. Tonight was beef and noodles. We have that a couple times per month! I'm not sure what else is on the menu for this week. I think tomorrow will probably be taco salad. I'll be posting new review for L'Oreal Revitalift in the next day or two.

Not much cooking for me recently! I spent last week at a conference so Hubby and Son had to fend for themselves. I had plenty of meals made and in the freezer for them but, of course, they ate out most nights!

I did make 6 pounds of barbeque pork (the recipe that I previously posted) for Daughter's alumni soccer game yesterday. It was gone in about a minute and a half!!!

This week, Son is in the Bahamas with his Marine Biology class so it is just Hubby and I. I am making a big crockpot of barbeque beef tomorrow (same recipe as pork only with beef ;-) ) and will put the leftovers in the freezer. I have beef roasts coming out my ears here. They had been BOGO at the grocery store for many weeks so I have TONS of them that I need to get cooked up!

I also work the 9-6 shift at work this week so if I make anything else, it will be a quick pasta or something else very quick and easy as I HATE to eat too late at night.

More recipes and reviews to come soon!

Afrin Pure Sea Review

This review has been relocated to: http://sharedreviews.com/r/44863-afrin-pure-sea

Sausage Sandwiches and Stuffed Peppers

So, yesterday I meant to take some hamburger out of the freezer and make a meatloaf for dinner. Well, I didn't take it out until very late and it was still frozen solid when it was time to make the meatloaf. When I put it back in the refrigerator in the garage, I noticed the freezer door ajar. Everything was still frozen except some Italian sausage had started to thaw. I immediately put that in the fridge to use up this week.

Fast forward to me organizing my coupons. I found a "$6.00 off your next purchase" coupon that was expiring yesterday! Good thing the grocery store is open 24/7! I quickly put together my shopping list and headed out the door.

The thawing hamburger was weighing on me because I don't have time to make meatloaf during the week. I usually make a 3lb meatloaf and it takes at least 1 1/2 - 2 hours to bake. So, when I was picking up a couple peppers for the sausages, it dawned on me to pick up a few more and make stuffed peppers!

I woke up this morning to find that my wireless router had bitten the dust. So I went straight from work and picked up a new one. I came home and made sausage sandwiches (recipe to follow!) then hooked up the router then put all the ingredients together for stuffed peppers to cook in the crockpot tomorrow (recipe to follow!) That's enough excitement and exhaustion for one night! Here's the recipes:

Sausage Sandwiches
Brown the sausages in a pan with a small bit of olive oil. Remove them from the pan and set them aside. Saute thinly sliced onions and green peppers in the oil and sausage drippings. Add the sausages back to the pan and cover with spaghetti sauce. I use locally made Mids Meatless as that is my favorite! Warm through and serve on thick, crusty, hoagie rolls with a slice of provolone cheese if you wish (I do!)

Stuffed Peppers
Brown ground beef and a large onion in a pan. Add about 2 cups of cooked rice. Cut the tops off of green pepper and stuff with the beef/onion mixture. Place in crockpot. I always make extra filling and heap it on top of the peppers in the crockpot. My son is 17 but still likes to eat the filling with no peppers! Top with any tomatoes you have on hand. I sometimes use tomato puree or crushed tomatoes. This time, I got a deal on Italian Sauce a couple weeks ago so I used a can of that. Cook it in the crockpot for about 8 hours.

I hope you enjoy!

Easter Bread

I usually spend my Saturdays clipping and organizing coupons, running errands and doing some light cleaning. Today, I am adding baking Easter Bread into the mix. It can't be Easter without having several loaves of Easter Bread on hand to enjoy. I'm sharing this recipe here but it is my grandma's recipe. If you use it, please do so with love and respect ;-)

I will probably make 2 batches today. Each batch makes 3 loaves. My first batch is on the first rise right now. Hubby saw me kneeding the dough and asked why I didn't just use my bread machine :-O This is my GRANDMA'S recipe!!! One of the reasons why it tastes so good is the love and sweat that goes into making it BY HAND!!!

So, here's the recipe but PLEASE adhere to the rules - NO BREAD MACHINE - LOVING HANDS ONLY!

2 packages of dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
Mix these ingredients together and let the yeast "proof" for 30 minutes

To the proofed yeast add:
1 pint (2 cups) of milk
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
5 eggs
1 tablespoon of anise extract
1 teaspoon of salt
about 7-8 cups of flour - enough to make a good bread dough

After combining and kneeding, let rise for 1 1/2 hours
"Punch down" and then let rest for 10 minutes
Divide dough into 3 lightly greased loaf pans
Let raise in pans for 1 hour
Lightly brush the tops of the loaves with beaten egg
Bake for 1 hour at 300-325 degrees

It's not easy or fast. Those would normally break all rules of my kitchen, but this is Easter Bread! Enjoy!

Wednesday

What a gorgeous day today! I woke up to rain but by lunchtime, the sun was shining and it was in the 60s! I just walked 2 miles with Hubby and Dog. I used to do that walk every single day but haven't done it for 7 months. I can NOT get on a good schedule since starting this job 7 months ago! That is my new goal - to get back to walking two miles EVERY day!

Tonight's dinner was Creamed Chicken Sandwiches. We had a bunch of rolls left over from the party on Saturday. Here's the recipe/instructions:

2 1/2 - 3 pounds of chicken breasts (I used about 1/2 of a 5lb bag of tenderloins)
2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup
About 1 cup of milk
Cook the above ingredients in the crockpot for about 8 hours
Stir the mixture until the chicken breaks into small pieces
Add a couple of handfulls of crushed potato chips. Stir and continue adding crushed chips until all the liquid is absorbed and the chicken mixture is a consistency that will stay in a bun.

Have a wonderful evening!