Tasty Yummy Goodness

Tonight we ate GOOD.

There was not much on the table as far as quantity goes, but the quality of our dinner was up tonight...way up!


As per my menu from Monday, we had Stuffed Mushrooms and steamed carrots.
I used this recipe from allrecipes.com.  I wanted to show you how beautiful they turned out, and share with you the adaptations I made.  This recipe was very easy to throw together and tasted like it came from a restaurant.  I would recommend it for a "stay at home date night", where you and the man eat after the kids have gone to bed (early!) or it makes a great company meal.  You could serve it with a steamed vegetable and rice pilaf to round things out!

 Pre-Baked

 Fresh out of the oven!

And since two of the three kids don't like mushrooms, I made "mini-meatloaf"

 from the ground beef/Italian sausage extras! 

 (My recipe adaptations below made in Orange!)

Stuffed Mushrooms IV

Rated: Submitted By: Jennifer Photo By: mis7up Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour Servings: 12

"A savory meat and bread mixture seasoned with chili powder is baked into a buttered button mushroom cap in this appetizer which is served hot."

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 Large Portabella mushrooms 4-5 Baby Portabella mushrooms 1/2 pound ground beef 1/2 pound ground Italian chicken sausage 1 tablespoon minced onion 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup bread crumbs salt and pepper to taste 1/3 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 teaspoon chili powder

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Remove and chop mushroom stems. (I added 4-5 chopped baby portabellas as well)
2.	In a saucepan over medium heat, combine ground beef, Italian sausage, onion, and garlic. Cook until meat is no longer pink; drain. Mix in chopped mushroom stems, 1 tablespoon butter, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in cream.
3.	Dip mushroom caps in 1/4 cup melted butter, and stuff generously with meat mixture. Arrange stuffed mushrooms in a baking dish. Sprinkle with chili powder.
4.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven.

Throwback Thursday~ Entertaining

Today we had friends over for a "luncheon". At least that's what I would have called it 60 years ago! 60 years ago I would have had the house sparkling clean, 'horderves planned for when they walked in the door and light sandwiches to be served 20 minutes later. Fruit salad served from a crystal bowl, and maybe potato chips would accompany the lunch as well fresh squeezed lemonade. With of course a cake made from scratch for dessert.


But since we live in 2010, I picked up Papa Murphy's take & bake pizza, used paper plates, served a nice green salad (with lettuce from my garden), and had serve yourself drinks available...

And you know what? We had a splendid time!

Another Family Favorite

I can't believe I'm going to share this with you...

It's a family favorite that's been in our family for years. Really, it's not like it's a secret, but still... if you ever come to my house and I serve it for dessert I don't want you to know how easy it was to make! (ah hem, kinda like this commercial... remember?)



I shared the recipe with my sister-in-law who was making a cake for a friend at work that enjoys all things lemon. I started describing to her this cake with a yummy glaze that my mom used to make. Suddenly I HAD to have the recipe. I called my mom and asked her to tell it to me over the phone. It had been a long time since I'd had it and my mouth began to water anticipating it!

Oh, this cake!! Serve it next time there's a Supper At Your Place okay?

Lemon Jello Cake

1 package of lemon jello

1 yellow cake mix

2/3 cup of oil

2/3 cup of water

4 eggs

..........................................

Mix above ingredients in mixer for 5-7 minutes.

Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan

Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes. The top will be a beautiful golden brown color.

When the cake comes out of the oven poke holes in the top with a meat fork or tooth pick.

While still hot, pour glaze (recipe below) over cake and smooth with the back of a spoon.

Mmmmmm....

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

The juice of 1 lemon

1/4 c. oil

..............

Mix with a wisk and pour over cake.

For the printable, click HERE. Enjoy!

This post a part of the 30 minute blog challenge at Steady Mom.

Easiest Chicken Ever

Nothing beats having company over and fixing a beautiful meal for them. Scratch that. Nothing beats having company and fixing a beautiful meal that looks like you spent all day making but really only took a few minutes to put together!



This is a recipe your company (and your family) is sure to love. I serve it with skin on mashed potatoes, a side vegetable (corn or broccoli) and yeast rolls. A fabulous made at home meal that gives a new meaning to the term "comfort food". Yum!



It's called Simply Great Chicken, and it's name is appropriate.


It came from the Taste of Home cookbook called Country Chicken, published in 1995

Simply Great Chicken

1 broiler-fryer chicken cut up, skin removed. (3 1/2-4 lbs) (or use 3-4 lbs. of your choice of chicken, breast, thighs, boneless, whatever works!)

1 envelope (.7 oz) Italian salad dressing mix (DRY)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar


In a greased 9x13 baking dish, place chicken in a single layer. Mix salad dressing mix & sugar, sprinkle over chicken. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until juices run clear.


For a printable copy of this recipe, click here!

Conviction

I'm going through the class by Dave Ramsey called Financial Peace. The discussions that have resulted have been very telling of our current life choices. My husband and I are both very much people people. We LOVE hanging out with friends, mentoring other couples, playing games with teens, sharing meals and just general fellowship kinds of things. We are using this as an "excuse" to spend more money than we ought to. Our society is one of convenience, of instant gratification as well as one of autonomy. When we choose to go out to eat instead of sharing a meal at home with friends and family we are not only blowing at least $15.00 to feed our little family of five, but we are creating habits that are inhospitable. I want to teach our children that our home is a place for all, a place where Jesus can be seen, heard and touched. He is present here and not only do I want to honor Him with our finances, I want to instill gratitude in my children.
Eating out was once a luxury, a special occasion and a treat for most everyone. Now it has become so common place we have an attitude of entitlement toward the convenience. When I was growing up there was a family at Church whose mom made pot roast, potatoes, and carrots EVERY Sunday for lunch. She had it perfected! I loved going to Betsy's house... I want to be that house. The house where you know that when you pull yourself up to the table the meal is not only hot and delicious, but made with love and with family in mind. I want my kids to experience the joy of a special treat.
Which leads me to my frugal tip for today. Eat out less. Or better yet, don't eat out at all! What's your favorite dish at a restaurant? I bet you can make it at home for 1/4 of the price (maybe less!) and 1/2 the calories and it will taste better! Challenge me... you put out the request and I will find or make the recipe. You make it at home and see how much it cost you to fix one serving...(plus the advantage of this is that you get more leftovers than a little dogie bag!) To figure this out add up the cost of all the ingredients you purchased to make it, then divide it by how many servings you made. I typically don't include spices or things I already have in my pantry such as flour.
I want to hear from you! Let me know what you do to save on your monthly spending for food. Tell me your favorite hospitality story from your childhood! Let's make memories together...