Meatball Maddness

So... today was finally the day to make the Open-faced meatball sandwiches. Have had them on my list for two weeks now and finally got to them. Erick and I thought they were delicious... I was pretty impressed with how yummy the meatballs turned out, the spices were wonderful and they had a good texture. I bet Grandma Murelli would be proud! Isabelle on the other hand said that they made her want to throw up (nice compliment huh?) and Austin mashed his up to pretend it was regular spaghetti sauce. Elliot you ask? You guessed it- he had plain pasta and butter. Off to a euchre party this evening. Happy Weekend everyone!

Burst of energy!

So, I wasn't even planning on cooking out of the cookbook tonight because I hadn't been to the grocery store for the week yet. I did take chicken out of the freezer this morning, and figured I would just grill it up. Then I got out of work and into the nice fresh air, and something about the sun shining gave me a burst of energy! So... I actually made two different things. For dinner tonight I made the Chicken and Biscuits casserole. ( I had ALL the ingredients!) I love how easy it is, and how it has everything all together-- chicken, veggies, bread.. yummy! Austin and Isabelle loved it... Is even gave it a 10! Elliot wouldn't even LOOK at it! WHAT am I going to do with that boy? Wondering if it is a third born thing? My brother Steve was 3rd born and didn't eat MANY things until adulthood! Let's hope Elliot starts to branch out. ( I should note that from probably about age 2-4 all I would eat is bologna rolled up with cheese!) Anyway, I also made a Mushroom Barely Soup. It had to simmer for about an hour, so we are going to eat it tomorrow! I got home from the gym tonight and was starving (hate that!) so I had a cup of the soup.. and it was delicious! I am going to put the recipe on the recipe page of the blog, because it is a definite must try if you like mushrooms! Low fat and VERY tasty!! American Idol tonight.... goodnight all!

Funday Fajitas

Oh Sunday how I love you! After a fun reunion night last night, I was dragging a bit this afternoon, but starving! Decided to make the steak fajitas for a lunch/dinner for Erick and I and since I also had some ground sirloin to make, I made spaghetti for the kiddies. It is now 4:15 and Erick and I are already done eating! Funny how "late nights" make you so hungry the next day! The kids are- according to Isabelle- going to eat at 5:15. (she has a friend over and that is their "schedule"- too cute!) Austin is at Nana's watching the State game, and Elliot is playing Lego Star Wars... so a quite afternoon at least! The fajitas were very tasty... I loved the seasonings/ sauce it called for. It had garlic, chili powder, pepper and oregano. I changed up the recipe a bit- no surprise there- and marinated it for about 30 minutes before cooking. I also used red and yellow along with the green peppers. Seriously though, you really CAN'T go wrong with Mexican. Busy week ahead of us with softball practice starting, catechism still having 2 more weeks to go, and some various meetings.... So will probably not be on here too much! Have a good week everyone. Take some time to reflect and count your blessings... and maybe make a new meal or two!

Spinach Manicotti (aka appetizer, entree and dessert)

Isabelle wanted to name this blog: appetizer, entree and dessert, because we had THREE courses tonight. (The little things are so exciting) We started with some sauteed mushrooms, Italian bread with some olive oil/pepper mix, and some cucumbers in Italian dressing. The main reason we ate these first is that everyone was STARVING since it was 7:00 by the time the manicotti was done. Once again the weather was so beautiful that we wanted to be outside enjoying it and took a walk to the park after work. I am thinking I will have to start making meals from the Healthy Living Cookbook and blogging maybe 2-3 times a week... that will take the pressure/guilt off of me when I miss some days! :) Spring and summer are just way too hard to be inside cooking... and we love to grill in the summer anyway. So.... the manicotti turned out very well. I have never made it without chicken or beef, and this was a nice change and perfect for a Friday in Lent! It had a lot of flavor! I liked that it had bread crumbs in it as well as fat free sour cream. I DID add some cottage cheese - just cuz I am crazy like that! (no comments!) This weekend is Erick's 20th Highschool reunion so I probably will not be on here all weekend. Have a great one everybody! PS- Isabelle made the yummy cookies!

Comeback Chicken Fried Rice

I KNOW you have missed me so much since I last blogged! It was a busy weekend, and believe it or not, I didn't HAVE to cook any of the nights!!! Between going out for pizza before bowling, eating at my parents Saturday and Erick's award dinner last night- I didn't even get a chance to cook had I wanted to! ;) Anyway, I am back, and it actually felt really good to cook tonight. I really needed the quiet time alone to just think, reflect, and cook. Granted, I DID hear the kids running around and playing, but I tried to zone them out and just COOK. The fried rice only called for rice, egg, green pepper and lite soy sauce. Of course, knowing me, I couldn't let well enough alone and I added chopped mushrooms, onions and chicken to make it a meal. It turned out pretty well... none of us were HUGE fans however. I think it got a 7 1/2 to an 8 from all of us, and Elliot had a chicken taco instead. I wonder if the baby is "always" going to be this picky!? As much as I know I should be making him try more things, it just doesn't seem worth the battle at this point. He did eat cheese, chicken and tortilla tonight. Usually he still gets a good variety of foods, but just simplified! Happy- sleepy clocks turned forward- Monday everyone.. Until tomorrow.. oh and almost forgot to add that Isabelle served some celery and carrots with ranch dip. SUCH a good helper!

Is's fruit salad, and salsa chicken skillet

Everyone keeps telling me they don't know where I get the energy to do all this cooking. Honestly, I always have cooked most nights, so the only difference is that I am trying different recipes. The planning and shopping does take more energy though, AND I am feeling a bit of pressure to COOK every night. Having McDonalds this Monday, I knew I had to cook the rest of the week, but I am super tired tonight. Somehow I found it in me to make the Salsa Chicken Skillet. It was EASY and very tasty. What I love about this cookbook ( taste of home: Guilt Free Cooking) is all the recipes with fresh veggies incorporated. I have made meals LIKE tonight's may times, but I never thought of adding celery, and I really loved the green peppers and mushrooms. The chicken mix also had garlic (which has been in a lot of the meals) onions, along with the chicken and salsa of course. Piled on top of a bed of rice with some cheese and sour cream (low fat of course), and volia- dinner!!! As you can see from the photos and the title, Isabelle also made a fruit salad.. this was her own idea and she did the entire thing on her own. It was a delicious, healthy dessert that she was very proud of. I look forward to passing some of the cooking responsibilities on to her slowly. :) Off to the gym and Target... until tomorrow...

OOPS- we ate both! :)

So today at lunch I saw people having soup, and it got me thinking about a broccoli cheese recipe I wanted to try this week. So I made the beef noodle casserole I had planned (I used ground turkey though) AND I made the soup. They were both very delicious and pretty easy! The soup was my favorite though. It was actually a "Southwest Broccoli cheese soup" because it had salsa in it. I have never made broccoli soup, so was a little intimidated at first, but it turned out very delicious. It started with veggies: broccoli (of course), onions, cubed potato, slices carrots, water and chicken bullion cubes. Those simmer until the veggies are soft, and then you add the flour/skim milk mixture, then light Velveeta-cubed, and lastly the salsa. Erick loved it as well! He said, "Well, I guess I DO like soup,.. but only the GOOD stuff!" The bonus was that the soup only had about 150 calories and 2 grams of fat per serving! NICE! Have a wonderful night everyone, until tomorrow....