cincinnati 2- 3- or 4-way

an easy standby for those less-than-creative moments in the kitchen.

1 can of chili (your favorite)
spaghetti noodles
shredded cheddar cheese
diced onions

heat the chili. cook & drain the spaghetti noodles. serve chili on top of spaghetti, garnished with cheese and/or onions, or neither.

like i said. easy. no-brainer. hearty. surprisingly good. and obviously you'll make as much chili & pasta as you need to feed your brood.

skillet lasagna

Another good one from my favorite peeps & cookbook. Again, crazy easy and delish.

1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground beef (i use 1 lb ground turkey instead of this combo)
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (i use 1/2 tsp)
salt & pepper
8 curly-edge lasagna noodles, broken into 2" pieces (don't use no-boil noodles)
1 (26 oz) jar marinara sauce (use your fave)
2 C water
1/2 C mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 C grated parmesan cheese (i use italian cheese blend for the mozz & parm)
3/4 C whole-milk ricotta cheese
1/4 C minced fresh basil

Cook meat in skillet over high heat, breaking into pieces, until fat renders. Drain meat & return to skillet.

Stir in garlic, pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp salt & cook over med-high until fragrant.

Sprinkle broken lasagna noodles into skillet, then pour in tomato sauce and water over top. Cook & cover, stirring often. Adjust heat as needed to maintain a vigorous simmer. Cook until noodles are tender, about 20 minutes.

Off heat, stir in half of mozzarella and half of parmesan. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Dot heaping tablespoons of ricotta over noodles, then sprinkle remaining mozzarella & parmesan. Cover and let stand off heat until cheese melts, 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle with basil before serving.

skillet tamale pie

Another of my favorites from America's Test Kitchen & my favorite cookbook. We loooove this recipe and it's wicked easy.

2 TB vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
2 TB chili powder
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced (i usually just use 1 large clove)
1 lb. 90% lean ground beef (i always use ground turkey)
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 pkg cornbread mix, prepared but not baked (i've used krusteaz & jiffy)
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
2 TB fresh cilantro, minced

Preheat oven to 450.

Heat oil in skillet over med-high. Add onion, chili powder, 1/2 tsp salt & cook until onion is soft. Stir in garlic until fragrant (30 seconds).

Stir in ground beef, beans & tomatoes; bring to a simmer breaking up meat. Meanwhile, mix cornbread batter according to package instructions.

Stir cheddar & cilantro into filling & season with salt & pepper to taste. Dollop cornbread batter evenly over filling & spread into even layer.

Bake until cornbread is cooked through center (10-15 minutes). Serve with sour cream (or not).

Marinated Pork Chops... well, at least the marinade.

So I tried out the marinade for the Marinated Pork Chops posted a while back. I used a pork roast in the slow-cooker instead. Yum! I made a few alterations for the slow-cooker. The pork roast was cooked on low for about 9 hours in just water (about half covered), minced garlic, lemon juice, and worcestershire sauce. Then when I came home, I shredded the meat, drained most of the liquid, and added a triple recipe of the marinade (it was just over a 3 pound roast). Stir, stir, stir. Yum! I ate it on a sandwich today like pulled pork. Last night I ate it with whole grain chips (FoodShouldTasteGood.com... thanks Alisa!), avocado, corn, and tomato. Delicious!

Anyhoo... tried and true, though slightly changed. Thanks for sharing!

Chinese Chicken Pasta Salad

I was recently reminded of this fabulous recipe I got from Alisa when I visited her in San Diego. I don't have a picture, and haven't made it in years, but since I dug it out I thought I'd go ahead and throw it up on the blog so you all can enjoy! :) Thanks Alisa!!!

Chinese Chicken Pasta Salad

1/4 c. sesame seed fried in 1/4 cup oil (though I've made it without the seeds before and it's still good)
12 oz. corkscrew pasta, cooked and drained
3 cups cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbl. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Marinate 4-8 hours or overnight.
Last minute add...
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup green onion
8 cups spinach

Brazilian Lemonade

Holy smokes this stuff was good! I got it from one of my very favorite recipe blogs: ourbestbites

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they're the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)

1 c. sugar

6 c. cold water

6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.

Wash limes thoroughly with soap; you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you're using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.

Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you'll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point, if it's bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.
Serve immediately over lots of ice. Serves 4.

FYI- this is not my picture...this picture belongs to ourbestbites. i just don't want to get myself into some blogger lawsuit over a silly picture.

oatmeal crispies

*I promise I cook more than dessert. :)

This recipe is from allrecipes.com and I forgot to take a picture. oops. I made these for a Superbowl party and they were gone gone gone. This recipe makes at least 3 dozen cookies. They're delicious when you want cookies but are a little tired of chocolate chip (like i was).

2/3 C shortening
1/3 C butter, softened
1 C packed brown sugar
1 C white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 C oats
1 C finely chopped pecans

Cream together shortening, butter and both sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour, salt, baking soda until combined. Add oats and nuts, mix until combined evenly. Shape dough into 2-3 log rolls on wax paper. Roll in the wax paper and chill in the fridge or freezer. Slice dough logs into 1/4" rounds. Bake @ 350 for 10 minutes, or until golden.

*Notes: I used 1 stick of butter and only 1/2 C of shortening and it worked fine. I left my dough logs in the freezer for about 10 minutes to harden a little because I was cooking these right then. You could also just freeze the logs for later. Chilling is a key step bc it's easier to cut the rounds. I also did a little bigger than 1/4". They spread quite a bit so keep that in mind, also.