Chicken Parmesan Bake

I made chicken parmesan for supper tonight. I only thought of supper at 3pm. So I got out 4 chicken breasts out of the freezer. I spread them on a lasagna pan. At 4:30 I put a dollop of butter on each chicken breast. I mixed 1 tbsp of Italian seasoning with 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. I spread the bread crumbs over the chicken breast. I broiled this for 5 mins then I baked it for 20 mins at 450 until the bread crumbs were browning and the chicken was bubbling. Then I removed the lasagna pan and I spread Ragu chunky spaghetti sauce over each chicken breast. I topped each one with grated mozzarella cheese. The lasagna pan went back in the oven for 15 mins. I used the 'chicken nugget' button on my stove so the cheese would brown. After the 15 mins were up I left it in the oven but shut it off for another 15 mins. We ate rice and salad with it and the kids really liked it.

Pork in the crock pot

No frills has pork loin on sale for 1$ a lb. I bought 4 and I cut them into 3 meals each. I cut 4 pork chops in to ziplock bags with BBQ sauce and got 6 meals for that. Then I cut 4 big chunks into ziplock bags for roasts. The remaining pieces or any wierd size meat pieces I cut into 2 inch chuncks for kabobs. I put honey and soya sauce on those packages before freezing. I had bought a big bag of balsami rice for about $10. Also for $1 at No frills they had bags of frozen corn and carrots and peas. I think it is exciting to buy $40 worth of groceries and get 12 meals for a family of 4. I might go get some more pork loin this week. Last night I put one pork roast in the crock pot for supper. It was a fatty piece that I didn't think looked that great. I tried this recipe and boy it it ever turn out good. The fat just fell off and the meat was tasty with rice. Original recipe makes 6 servings Change Servings: 6 boneless pork chops, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup ketchup, 2 cloves garlic, crushed, salt and pepper to taste, Crock pot on low for 6 hours.

Sugar cookies Emily was looking thru her craft book and found this cookie recipe. I promised to make it and we tried the recipe. It turned out great! 1/2 cup butter, 1 1/2 white flour, 1/4 cup of icing sugar, 2 tbsp of corn syrup. I beat the first two in the kenmore mixed with the paddle then added more butter and when it was the proper consistency I added remaining two ingredients. Put in fridge for 30 mins, roll out and cookie cutter. Let the kids decorate. Bake at 350 for 10 mins. I think i will mix in orange food colouring and make little pumpkin cookies for Hallowe'en!

Dump and run taco soup

http://10minutedinners.com/easy-taco-soup/ Read this recipe This website had this recipe that I tried twice. It is very easy. I made spaghetti for the family one night but cooked 2 lbs of ground beef and split it in half and put it in the fridge. The next day I made taco soup in the crockpot with it. I had some ladies over and while we were 'crafting it up' we stopped for a bowl of soup (and a handful of cookies, a girl has to keep her energy up). I changed the recipe a lot because I wanted to use up more of the ingredients I had on hand. My version went something like this. The taco soup - I cooked 1 pound of the ground beef (not 2 lbs) and mixed in taco seasoning. I used green salsa instead of green chilies. 5 peeled tomatoes instead of stewed tomatoes. I added 1/2cup of regular salsa (optional) and 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes. 2 cups of water. Some frozen corn, 1 can of kidney beans, you can use any beans. It turned out good!

Fall Feast

I have been collecting tons of fruits and vegatables from my family garden. This years harvest includes, peppers, squash, tomatoes, apples, onions, raspberries, cucumbers, wild grapes and more. I have done my canning of salsa, jams and pickles are in the fridge. I froze tomatoes, pumpkin, squash, apples and applesauce, raspberries. Now I am on the casserole stage of using up all these veggies. I like to prepare meals in advance while the food is free from the garden. I love to have crockpot meals ready in ziplock bags in the freezer for when there is a friend who needs a helping hand at a tough time. Today I have made spaghetti sauce and chili, butternut squash soup, beef stroganoff and orange chicken. I have been checking out some great websites for new crockpot recipes. I am going to share the links here so I can find them again another time.I'm having a heck of a time posting links (insert sad emotion). look in the comments for more links. The first comment is '8 crockpot freezer meals' including the orange chicken and beef stroganoff. Butternut squash soup- http://cleaneatingchelsey.com/2011/10/27/slow-cooker-butternut-squash-and-apple-soup/

easy refrigerator dill pickles

http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2012/10/22/easy-refrigerator-dill-pickles/#comments I made these with our neighbors cucumbers. They are as easy and tasty as the blog I saw it on claims. Ashley is a pickle monster gave me the thumbs up with her mouth full of 3 pickles.

Muffins and my summer meal plan

My goal in the summer is to not turn on the oven. I use the oven a lot so I don't have to work to hard at the supper hour. My kids are nuts after 4 pm and I am usually cranky. So I like to put supper in the oven at nap time, and pull it out ready to eat at 5pm. It looks like a hot week is coming. So my meal plan for this week is Tonight -hamburgers and hot dogs. Sunday -BBQ pork chops and potatoes, salad Monday - Stew in the crock pot, Tuesday - Spaghetti (with extra meat cooked for taco's) Also use these leftovers to make chili for next week. Wednesday - Taco's or Taco salad. Thursday - Chicken breast on the BBQ, rice, and salad, Friday - extra Chicken cooked from night before in a Caesar salad plus eat up leftovers out of the fridge. We will eat fruit and muffins for snacks. Lunch is usually sandwiches, kraft dinner, or soup with cheese and crackers. Another great meal is stir fry. I love stir fry but my family doesn't. Also eggs, bacon breakfast style supper. This is a great summer meal. I made muffins this morning. I hope to get baking done this weekend in the morning while it is cool. Then we will have snacks without the kids eating all the fruit up on Monday. Also I suggest making a quiche while you are baking since it is a great lunch that can be kept a few days and eaten cool. This recipe is from 'Let's break bread together' United Church cookbook. This is my favorite cookbook and every recipe in it turns out for me. I make 'Blueberry bran muffins' I use the last cup of raisin bran cereal instead of all bran. The end of the bag that no one wants to eat. Today I put in one cup of chopped rhubarb in it instead of blueberries, Also i used 3/4 cup of milk and 1 -100gram expired container of yogurt. All the individual cups of yogurt that don't get eaten up in time I use in my muffin batter. Also I split 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour. Here goes. Blueberry Bran Muffins 2 eggs, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 1 cup all bran cereal. Beat eggs, stir in milk and oil. Add all bran and let stand for 5 mins. Combine 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of white sugar, 4 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of salt, Add to bran mixture, stirring until just blended. Fold in fruit. Spoon into greased muffin tins, 3/4 full. Bake at 400 for 20 mins or until brown.