Meal 27

Meal 27 was sloppy joes (totally homemade) & guacamole dip. 

I usually just open a can of Manwich, but for this meal I decided to go the whole nine yards & used the recipe linked below.  Did everything it said, except I substituted balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar just b/c that's what I had on hand.  The whole fam loved the joes, except for one who has never been a fan of them EVER.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sloppy_joes/

The guacamole dip was 2 fresh avocados, smashed up, 4 oz of cream cheese & a guacamole spice mix that I purchased in the produce area at Walmart.  It was wonderful. 

Meal 27 eaten, 273 to go.

Meal 26

Tonight we had sausage, biscuits, white gravy & fried apples!!

That's all I have time to say about that right now.

26 meals down, 274 to go.

Meal 25

This meal was a hit! 
I started with a variation on my famous mexican rice.  I actually got to learn some basic mexican cooking techniques years ago from a mexican women while in Houston.  I'll post the original recipe she taught me later when I actually do exactly what she did, but tonight I'm gonna' just tell you what I did, which was using what I had available!

In a large skillet with cover I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, enough to coat the pan well.  Heated the pan, then added about 1 cup of white rice.  The rice will kind of "saute" in the oil & turn an even brighter white, then it will start  to turn a kind of toasted color.  It will eventually burn if you let it, but before you reach that point, when all of it has changed color, add about 2 cups of water. Tonight I added to that one can of rotel & 3 chicken bouillion cubes.  Then you cover and let all that simmer until the rice is tender & all the water has evaporated.

I added chicken to it that I had sauteed with fajita seasoning....then I topped it with the BEST part, mexican white cheese dip from El Mazatlan!  I stopped by and picked that up on the way home, one of these days I'll try to make it myself, but today was not that day.

The only part of this meal that I didn't get done was that I had intended to saute some jalapenos after the chicken to add as a topping, but I was out of them & hadn't realized that.

Meal 25 done, 275 to go.

Meal 24

Frozen pizza & salads....fresh cut up iceberg, homemade 1000 island & boiled eggs.  Have I put the 1000 island recipe on here?  Every single one of us LOVE it.  1 cup mayo, 1/2 cup ketchup, 1 teaspoon chili powder & 1 tbsp relish (if you want).  The fresh farm eggs were the greatest part of the meal!! 

I feel like I'm kinda' slacking lately on my "easy" meals....I'm gonna' try to bump it up this week!

24 meals down....276 to go.

Meal 23

Tonight was left over broccoli soup from last night & salmon patties.  I did it old school & it's probably been a couple of years since I've fixed them.  1 can of salmon, one egg, a few crumbled up saltines....mix together....form into patties....cover in cornmeal & brown in a sautee pan with a little oil. 

They were delicious!!  Meal 23 done....277 to go.

Meal 22

This was a super quick half-home cooked meal!  Ran into the grocery....grabbed a rotisserie chicken for $3.99 (on sale)....a bag of frozen broccoli, a couple of cans of cream of chicken soup & some velveeta.  Those last three ingredients turned into cream of broccoli soup in about 15 minutes.  Ate the soup with the chicken.  Yummy!

22 meals down....278 to go.

Meal 21

Another snow day....and our first pot of vegetable soup for the year is on the stove!!  It smells wonderful simmering up & contributing some warmth to the house. 

Today's soup is a variation on Paula Deen's Beef Vegetable Soup recipe.  Here's the link to her recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/the-lady-and-sons-beef-vegetable-soup-recipe/index.html

I don't do everything she does in that recipe....I mainly just use the spice combinations that she suggests to add flavor to the soup.  Like today, we have no carrots in the frig & I'm not going to the store for them....and I always substitute our hamburger instead of starting with ribs & roast.

21 meals down, 279 to go! 

Meal 19

Fried Bologna Sandwiches!!  Is there anything better in the world?? 

This was our meal 19 on a recent snowy day. What made it even better was that Wayne & I fixed them together...I'm guessing teaching him how to fry bologna will go down in history to him as one of the greatest things I've ever taught him. He LOVES to see just how brown & crispy he can get the bologna - - his often look more like bacon in the end. We also mixed up some ranch dip & had pretzels & vegetables with it. That's just good old plan food.

Meal 19 down, 281 to go!!

Meal 20

Tonight I've cooked for 20 people who are attending a Married LIFE event at our church.  I tripled the chicken spaghetti recipe...that's yummy!!  We're also serving salads & Sister Schubert's rolls...they are AWESOME!!

I'm definately counting this as a meal...especially since my main fella' will be eating it too!

Meal 20 down....280 to go.

Meal 18

Meal 18 was technically prepared by teenagers who were hanging out here & decided they wanted to actually cook.  I'm counting it because I did have everything prepped & ready for them & of course gave them "pointers" throughout their time in the kitchen. 

They made sloppy joes, queso dip & their very own gallon of sweet tea.  Sloppy joes were made with the regular "open the can of sloppy joe mix" technique.  Queso was half a box of velvetta & half a pint of home-made salsa....melted together in the microwave.  And sweet tea was made with my "handed" down recipe of 4 family sized tea bags & 2 cups of sugar.  Yep, it's sweet.

The only thing I would've done differently if I'd been cooking it myself would've been to add just a tablespoon or so of brown sugar to the sloppy joes as they simmered...I just forgot to tell them that tip.

18 Meals down....282 to go.

Meal 17

The following recipe is what I made for the Super Bowl party!  These hot ham & cheese sandwiches are amazing...and so versatile.  You can make them with lots of different kinds of rolls & breads, you can also use lots of different cold cuts & cheeses.  For Super Bowl I used four long french bread loaves.

Here's the standard recipe that I got from a friend years ago:
4 pack of rolls (the small ones that come in the aluminum tray)
Sliced Swiss Cheese
Sliced Ham
2 sticks of softened margarine
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp poppy seed
2 tbsp mustard
1 medium onion chopped fine (or dried onion flakes if your in a hurry)

Preheat over to 350. Slice rolls in half. Remove tops. Mix bottom 5 ingredients into sandwich "marinate". Brush mixture on bottom roll. Layer on ham & cheese to your liking.  Replace tops.  Brush mixture on tops of rolls. Bake for 30 minutes.

They are wonderful!! 

Meal 16

This meal took 3 hours to prepare.
What took the longest was boiling the pigs feet...no kidding....it's a throw-back to my husband's childhood & he loves them.  I won't be sharing the recipe for these because I don't think anyone else would really be interested.  If you are, let me know and I'll send you a link.  Here's what they looked like cooking up.

The rest of us had roast pork shoulder with homemade sweet & sour sauce, green beans & rice with carrots.
The pork shoulder recipe link is below.  It turned out great.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1827,144168-242204,00.html

16 meals down....284 to go.

Meal 15

Tonight is the Final Season Premiere of LOST! 

For our LOST party, I've purchased fried chicken from our local grocery's deli.  That is turning into chicken from "Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack." 

I'm adding mac-n-cheese, biscuits & honey. Fresh pineapple & spinach (a nod to Sun's garden) will round out the meal.
Any LOST fans out there get the "honey" reference?

15 meals down, 285 to go!

Meal 14

I forgot all about posting my 14th meal.  It was more tortilla soup made in a hurry on our recent snow day!  Just took a couple of leftover bowls to my mom & dad.  They haven't ever tried it yet.

That's fourteen meals done & 286 to go.