Dinner for 2

Creamy Italian Chicken in crock pot!!!!!!! (so easy)

ingredients:

2-4 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese (let sit out to soften)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pkg. Italian dressing seasoning (the dried kind in the packet)

rice


stir the cream cheese, cream of chicken, and seasoning together in the crock pot. i actually start it on low and let them sit in there for about 30 min so the cream cheese is softer to stir. (but don't forget about them like i did today!) put the frozen (because i'm lazy) chicken in and cover with the mix. cook on high 4-6 hours or until the chicken is cooked and fall-apart-tender. after the first two hours when the chicken is softer i cut it up into strips for easier eating. how easy is that!?




















Perfect Mac-n-Cheese (serves 4 as a side dish)

8 ounces penne pasta (half a box)
2 cups Beecher’s Flagship Cheese Sauce (see below)
1 ounce Cheddar, grated
1 ounce Gruyere cheese, grated
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or butter an 8-inch dish. Cook the penne 2 minutes less than the package directions. You want the noodles not quite done because they will finish cooking in the sauce in the oven. Rinse the pasta with cold water and set aside.

Combine cooked pasta and Flagship Sauce in a medium bowl and mix carefully but thoroughly. Scrape the pasta into a prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the cheeses, then the chile powder. Bake uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, until the top has a nice golden crust. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

If you decide to make this as a main and double the amounts, use a 9×13 inch baking pan and increase the time to 30 to 35 minutes.

Beecher’s Flagship Cheese Sauce (makes 4 cups)

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
14 ounces semi-hard cheese, grated (I used Beecher’s Flagship Cheddar)
2 ounces grated semi-soft cheese (I used Gorgonzola)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Continue to whisk and cook for 2 minutes. You just made a roux, a substance used for thickening sauces!

Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Now you turned the roux into a bechamel.

Remove from the heat. Add the cheese, salt, chile powder and garlic powder. Stir until the cheese is melted and all the ingredients are incorporated, about 3 minutes. If the cheese isn’t melting completely you can put the pan on low heat.

Use immediately or refrigerate for up to three days!

Then we ended it with the strawberry sheet cake that was on the post yesterday OMG it was great....The cake was so moist, and creamy and just was an awesome dinner.....I so recommend this...

Strawberry sheet cake

STRAWBERRY SHEET CAKE

Ingredients

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2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 cup milk
¼ cup mashed sweetened strawberries
1 small box dry strawberry jello
Strawberry Icing:

½ stick softened butter or margarine
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup mashed sweetened strawberries
(there was something missing here, so i added a little heavy cream to get the cream effect of the icing.)


Tips & Notes
This recipe may take longer to bake, depending upon the type of baking dish and oven used. The frosting can be runny because of the strawberry juice. You may need to add more berries or powdered sugar to get the frosting to the right consistency.


Instructions

Mix all ingredients and pour into greased 9x13 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, make the icing.
Mix together all icing ingredients until smooth – may need to add more powdered sugar or strawberries for a spreading consistency. Mix well first before you add extra sugar or strawberries.
Once the cake is cool, spread the icing on the cake.
Store the cake in refrigerator; it's best when it's chilled for at least 2 hours.

The batter looked really runny and of course the first thing I wanted to do was add more something? I didn't and it turned out just fine, as the recipe says you may have to just bake it a little longer...Below is the picture of the icing it will go on lightly but still gives the same effect.

SKILLET BROWNIE DELIGHT

Skillet Brownie Delight.......Watch out it is awesome.

Ingredients

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2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 cup milk
¼ cup mashed sweetened strawberries
1 small box dry strawberry jello
Strawberry Icing:

½ stick softened butter or margarine
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup mashed sweetened strawberries


Tips & Notes
This recipe may take longer to bake, depending upon the type of baking dish and oven used. The frosting can be runny because of the strawberry juice. You may need to add more berries or powdered sugar to get the frosting to the right consistency.


Instructions

Mix all ingredients and pour into greased 9x13 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, make the icing.
Mix together all icing ingredients until smooth – may need to add more powdered sugar or strawberries for a spreading consistency. Mix well first before you add extra sugar or strawberries.
Once the cake is cool, spread the icing on the cake.
Store the cake in refrigerator; it's best when it's chilled for at least 2 hours.

(Didn't change a thing, this was great, the only thing i did do is cover the top of the brownie with the rest of the pkg of chocolate chips....Ouch this is a sweet treat, would be awesome with ice cream on it..)

OVER NIGHT BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST
Ingredients
12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup fresh blueberries
12 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon butter
Directions
Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.
In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast

OMG this is awesome, i didn't change a thing about it, it is more than just a meal, it would even make a good dessert.  Have to give credit again this is a recipe I have pinned on my pintrest.  Maybe add a  little whipped topping for more a dessert but you have to try this. Yes what you see is the steam of the hot blueberry sauce it was so warm and comforting hubby went back for seconds...Enjoy

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole
adapted from Food.com and salad-in-a-jar.com
(Printable Recipe)

12 oz spaghetti
1 (28 ounce) jars prepared spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu and spiced it up my way)
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 1/2 C of Asiago cheese (this is where i messed up lol)

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

In a skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked through; drain fat and stir in spaghetti sauce.  Set aside.

Cook spaghetti according to directions on packet.  Drain and place cooked spaghetti in bowl.  Add cream cheese, Italian Seasoning and minced garlic.  Stir until cream cheese is melted and the spaghetti is thoroughly coated.

Lightly grease a 9x13" pan.  Spread a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of the dish.  Put spaghetti on top of sauce and top with remaining meat sauce.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.

OMG is all I can say, again i need to give credit where due and this a recipe i took off my pintrest....Now again I changed a few things up..It says Parmesan cheese, well this is what happens when you don't read and just start baking. It was suppose to be used for the top, well i put it in the mix with the noodles...Then I though wait, I have some Asiago cheese so I shredded up about 1 1/2 Cups and put it on top...Oh it made it  so try it that way too, see which one you like best. I would also add a good garlic bread and maybe a good wine, and honey you will smack your mama....

Mary Cooking alone this weekend

S'mores Cookies
Source: Ice Cream Before Dinner
Ingredients:
11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Instructions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.
Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.
Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

Now just to give credit where it is due, i got his recipe off Pintrest.com if you go to mine MaryDoutt you will see this recipe and who I pinned it off of. I would change a few things, one would be the Graham crackers...They just burn and ruin the cookie, you don't need it you could just do the cookie as a cookie and put the Hersey bar on there.  They are good but with the graham cracker on there it burns within the first 5 minutes and you need those other 7 to bake your cookie.  So my advice is to NOT put the graham cracker on it, it still taste the same...

Here are some more meals we have made prior to our blog!

Spicy Potato Wedges (the Neely's from footnetwork.com)

3 large russet potatoes, cut into wedges
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T season salt
1 T chopped parsley
3 T grated Parmesan
kosher salt
2 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat 450 degrees.  In large bowl toss the potatoes with melted butter, olive oil, season salt, cayenne pepper, parsley, and 3 tablespoons of Parmesan.  Arrange in a single layer on 2 sheet trays.  Bake until golden brown and crisp.  Turn the potatoes halfway through the cooking to avoid sticking.  Remove from oven and top with kosher salt and cheddar cheese.  Put into oven again until cheese is melted, about 1-2 mins.  Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with more Parmesan.

Memphis Monte Cristo (Neely's from foodnetwork.com)

2 T veg oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 cup bbq sauce
8 slices hearty, thick white sandwich bread
8 thin slices of deli smoked swiss cheese
8 thin slices of deli honey baked ham
8 thin slices of deli smoked turkey

Heat oven 350 degrees.  Heat frying pan on med heat with oil.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, sugar, salt, and cayenne until blended.  Pour into an 8 x 8 baking pan.  Spread bbq sauce onto each slice of bread.  Add 1 slice of cheese, ham, and turkey, then repeat.  Top with other pieces of bread and press the sandwich together with hands.  Dip into wet batter.

Add the battered sandwiches to pan and cook both sides until brown.  Remove to cookie sheet.  Put into oven until cheese melts.  Remove and cut into triangles.

Peanut Butter Pie (Neely's from foodnetwork.com)

Hotfudge Sauce:
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 t salt
2 t vanilla
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or choc chips)

Peanut Butter Pie:
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 T confectioners sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream (or 1 container of already made whip topping)
1 t vanilla
2 oz shaved milk chocolate
9 inch chocolate pie crust (or you can make your own)

Sauce: Add cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla to sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat until boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and add the chocolate.  Continue to stir until chocolate has melted and sauce has thickened, 3-4 min.  Let the sauce cool 10 mins before serving.

Pie: In large bowl, combine cream cheese, 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, and peanut butter until mix is light and fluffy, about 3 mins.  In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until thick and light (or you could just buy the already made whip topping).  Add 2T confectioners sugar and vanilla.  Continue to whip until stiff peaks form (or unless you used the already made whip topping, then just lightly combine it).  Fold whip cream into mixture and pour batter into pie shell.  Sprinkle with shaved milk chocolate and freeze for 4 hours.  Serve with hotfudge sauce and whip cream, and nuts if you wanna.

We have tried making the home made whip topping using the heavy cream.  Neither one of us has figured this process out.  We either get it into peaks and then it turns runny later, or we can't get it to form at all.  We have no idea why.  SOOOO, we recommend buying the already made whip topping in the freezer section and just thawing it out lol.


For some reason our potatoes stuck.  So, I would recommend making sure you have plenty of oil coating your potatoes.

Here are a few recipes that we have fixed prior to our blog and wanna share with you!

Homemade Potato Chips (the Neely's from foodnetwork.com)

Peanut Oil
1 1/2 lb yukon gold potatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Neely's BBQ Seasoning

Preheat oil in deep fryer to 375 degrees.  Be patient, this takes a little while.  Peel potatoes and then slice them into very thin 1/8" slices.  Keep potatoes in very cold water until ready to fry after cutting (so they don't turn brown).  Drain potatoes in a colander and blot dry with paper towels.  Fry potatoes in batches, only a few at a time, for about 3-minutes.  Once they reach a golden brown, remove from fryer and drain on a paper towel lined sheet tray.  Dust immediately with salt, pepper, and Neely's BBQ Seasoning to taste.

It took for ever for our oil to heat up and we had tons of potatoes.  We had half of them eaten before all of them were completely fried lol.

Memphis Beale Street Burger & Old School Onion Rings (Neely's from foodnetwork.com)

2 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 t salt and pepper
butter
6 Hoagie buns
6 slices pepperjack cheese
12 slices of bacon, crips
1/2 cup Neely's secret sauce (ingredients below)

In a large mixing bowl break up the meat with your hands.  Add the garlic, worcestershire sauce, and salt & pepper to taste.  Mix.  Using hands divide into six balls.  Flatten into patties and use thumb to indent the middle of the burger (so the outside doesn't get higher during cooking).  Grill burgers for 3 mins each side.  Remove and top with cheese.  Butter buns and place on grill until golden brown.

Build your burger and top with special sauce.

Special Sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream
2 T mayo
2 T buttermilk
2 T bbq sauce
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 t cayenne pepper
salt & pepper

Old School Onion Rings (also from Neely's)

Peanut Oil
2 med vildalia onions
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 t hotsauce
1 egg, beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
2 t season salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Heat oil to 375 (again, this take awhile).  Slice the onions into rings and separate them.  Add the buttermilk, hotsauce, and egg to large casserole dish and whisk.  Stir in the onion slices and allow to soak 3-5 mins.  Put the flour and cornmeal in separate bowl and add season salt and cayenne pepper.  Add onion rings to flour mix in batches and cover until coated.  Make sure to get rid of excess buttermilk before adding to flour mixture.  Add onion in batches to hot oil, don't overcrowd.  Fry until golden brown, 2 min.  Transfer to plate and season with salt.

We made these recipes a few months ago.  We did the potato chips with a different burger but wanted to give you a variety in sides.  Either is good!  This makes tons of rings and chips!

If you have certain people in your house that loves bacon, we suggest making more.  One little girl went on a bacon kick and almost ate the entire package before the burgers were ready lol.

March 24, 2012.


Another evening together and we decided to try some new dishes and use the husbands and kids as taste testers.  We are going to show you how to do an easy meal in one night including dessert and a drink.  Drema made the bbq chicken and the dessert and Mary made the pasta and drink.  We listed the prices we paid for each meal, not counting the basics like sugar, eggs, vinegar, etc.  We will make another blog post about what we consider the basics.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken (forkinit.blogspot.com)
Total Cost: $10.00 (if  you have the basics)


4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts (i threw them in frozen... even easier!)
1 bottle BBQ sauce (sweet baby ray's all the way!)
1/4 c vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

Put chicken into crockpot.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over chicken.  Cook low heat for 4-6  hours.  I shredded my chicken after it was done and added a little more sauce. 

Our husbands commented that if they had a bun and some cole slaw it would have been good for another entire meal.  Might try that with the left-overs!

Three-Cheese Pasta Bake (myrecipes.com and southern living)

Total Cost: $13.00 (not counting eggs)

1 (16oz) box of ziti

2 (10oz) jar of Alfredo sauce

1 (8oz) sour cream

1 (15oz) ricotta cheese

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup fresh Parsley

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1. Prepare ziti according to package directions; drain and return to pot.
2. Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream; toss with ziti until evenly coated. Spoon half of mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
3. Stir together ricotta cheese and next 3 ingredients; spread evenly over pasta mixture in baking dish. Spoon remaining pasta mixture evenly over ricotta cheese layer; sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Everyone liked it except on hubby hates ricotta cheese and wishes we had left it out.  However, he ate two helpings of it lol!

 

Dessert: Hot Fudge Cake (like Shoney's)

Total Cost: $7.00

1 box Devils Food Cake Mix

1 jar Hot Fudge Sauce

1 container Vanilla Ice Cream

This dessert is really easy.  Buy 1 box of Devils Food Cake (doesn't matter the brand).  Make the cake exactly like the box says to.  Once cooled, cut into squares.  Top with one scoop of ice cream.  Heat up the hot fudge and drizzle over the top.  Instant hot fudge cake!

It has been warm here in West Virginia so we decided to make a summer drink!  

Raspberry Lemonade (from the sexyknitter.blogspot.com)

Total Cost: $6.00

Makes 2 Quarts

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Bring the cup of water to a boil. Add the sugar and stir constantly for one minute until sugar is thoroughly dissolved; remove from heat and add to a blender with raspberries. Puree until smooth. Add puree to 2-quart container with lemon juice and enough water to make 2 quarts. Chill before serving.

Two of us thought it was awesome, the other two thought it was too tart!  So if its tart you may want to add some more sugar.

These are our dorks...oh sorry...our loving husbands.  They truly sample everything we make, even if its not really good lol.  I think they were enjoying their chocolate cake (after the two helpings of chicken and pasta)!  

Overall it was a great meal.  This meal fed 6 people easily with some leftovers (and that was considering the men had seconds).  We spent a total of $36.00 which equals to about $6.00 per person.  This was a big meal but easy.  You can leave out the dessert and drink to same some change if needed.  This was still a whole lot cheaper than going out to a restaurant and we still had leftovers.  

Good luck and happy cooking!

Drema and Mary

All about the cooks

Hi.  We are Drema and Mary, We have been best friends for over 10 years. We wanted to start this blog together for many reasons.  One to help those who might just be starting out cooking and can make our easy simple easy recipes.   Second to show how much fun cooking can be and how much cheaper it is to do it at home than stop at a fast food place. Last we just want to tell you about our life, the fun we have cooking and what our family and husbands input also...Drema has been married for 15 years and is a mom of 2 awesome kids. Her son will be 14 soon and is an awesome football player.  Her daughter is 10, plays soccer, and is the one we have to watch closely...sneaky as a fox, but too cute...I have been Married for 19 years to the love of my life.  I am also a cancer survivor.  Our husbands are also best friends which makes our life so much easier!  You will learn in this blog both of our opinions, and no we don't always agree, but that is what makes this fun! So sit back and learn a little about cooking, fun, family and of course, 2 Best Friends that love to cook.