The Lazy Man's Chicken & Noodles

Hands down, one of my favorite meals is a big ol' pot of chicken and noodles. Literally...the entire pot. I could eat it all. If it weren't so steamy and HOT!!!!

I debated about whether or not to share what I made tonight. Mainly because it was very spur of the moment and I took a big shortcut for time's sake. This is one of those nights where I realize that I only have two things in my pantry. Option #1: sandwiches. Turned out I didn't even have tuna or turkey. Option #2: throw some stuff in a pot. I did something bad. I used (a pouch of chicken)....that was me whispering. I guess it might sound a lot better if I didn't call it a pouch. I mean, a kangaroo has a pouch...a chicken does not. I desperately wanted something warm and comforting and that package of egg noodles was staring at me when I opened the freezer door. I would have just settled for eating the egg noodles alone but Riley may have wrinkled his nose at that idea. I didn't want to deal with cooking and chopping chicken so I settled for the easy way. Hence my name for tonight's recipe.....

LAZY MAN'S CHICKEN and NOODLES

Ingredients:

*1 pkg egg noodles

*1 Tyson chicken breast pouch

*1 can cream of chicken

*1 can cream of celery

*1 cup of milk

*4 cups of chicken broth

*1/2 tsp basil

*1 tsp salt

*1 tsp black pepper

*1/2 tsp garlic powder

*1/2 tsp onion powder
*a dash of crushed red pepper

Directions:

1) Throw it all in a pot, cook and ENJOY.

See what I mean? Lazy. But oh so yummy!!!! So good that I almost forgot about the pouch of chicken while I inhaled the bowl(s) of soup. :) Of course if you have the time you can spruce it up a lil with celery, carrots, onions and some (real chicken)....I guess I can stop whispering now. :)



GOT MOTIVATION?

101 Things To Do With Ramen Noodles

Do you have that one food that instantly reminds you of your grandmother's house while you were growing up? Well, oddly enough, mine is Ramen Noodles. And before I go any further I must add that I pronounce them "ray-men" and I'm completely okay with that. My grandmother enjoyed cooking and was pretty darn good at....but for some reason or another my cousins and I would have chosen a package of Top Ramen any day of the week over something homemade. We could very frequently be found chowing down on our bowls of the ever so popular noodles that have a stigma for being known as the "poor college student diet." And we didn't eat them the traditional way. Instead of cooking them on the stovetop we pounded the outside of the package with our fists until they were good and crushed, poured them in a bowl and microwaved for three minutes. Sprinkle your seasoning and viola.....it's lunch time! Oh and did you know that they are considered a breakfast food too???? ;) I don't keep them in my own house for one simple reason.....I'd eat them for every meal.


The other day I hopped over onto Facebook to find this clever message from my cousin Garrett.......

"Your new blog is missing something. I see all this food and all these recipes, but none of them include Ramen Noodles... What's the deal?"

......to which I responded jokingly.......

"I do take requests. Keep your eye out for the Ramen noodle recipe!!! I knew you were a genius but now there is no doubt."

My cousin is quite the jokester so I just laughed and carried on (but now I was craving noodles by this point) So here's the scene a couple hours later that afternoon.....

I was daydreaming about recipes to try out for The Pink Dish when all of a sudden I had one of those lightbulb moments. Aha!! I will search through my mom's recipe rack and find all of the yummy things she used to make that we loved so much. I asked my dad if he minded my rummaging around through her cookbooks and he told me to have at it. I kept thinking how silly I felt for not having thought of this earlier. I pulled out each cookbook one by one and started to make a stack of the one's that I wanted to browse through when ALL OF A SUDDEN this caught my eye......

The universe was playing some sick joke on me this day. But the more I thought about it, the more I could picture my mom giggling at me as I stumbled upon this silly book. I'm a big sucker for a good coincidence. I'm the kind of person that is still saying "wow, what a coincidence" three days after the coincidence. I immediately assured Garrett that I would be able to adequately fulfill his request now thanks to my mom.

Talk about easy peasy.... I mean come on!!! How much easier can cooking get?! Well we are about to find out just how easy it is. Join me on my journey through noodle heaven. Each week I'm going to pick a recipe from this quirky book. This is going to be fun!

Any fellow Ramen Noodle lovers out there????????? This is for you. XOXO.

GOT MOTIVATION?

Way Back Wednesday

Way back when.......


I had bangs.

Seriously?!?!!?!

I'm not just talking bangs. I'm talkin' bangs bangs. I'm talkin' long, have to curl them to stay out of my eyes bangs. My question is: why did no one tell me what a hideous offense this was? Oh wait, they did.

Bangs and hats? Really?

Bangs in my eyes while running

Bangs in my eyes for senior pics

Did any of my friends have bangs? No. Did anyone else in the universe have bangs at that time? No. Were they in style? No. No, no, no. So WHY?!?!?! I guess I could also title this Way Back Wednesday....back when I looked like the shaggy dog.


You heard it here first....I vow to never ever ever do this again. I wonder what my hair stylist was thinking everytime she cut my hair? I wonder what my forehead was thinking? But most importantly....what was I thinking?!?! Oh yeah, and I didn't even get to show you a picture of the famous "poofy side bang" for twirling competitions....it looked like a rainbow was coming straight out of my head. And we certainly can't forget the permed bangs. Yes, I said permed.


And then there was the time I tried to cut my own bangs......

Candy Corn Fudge

Heaven in a cupcake liner

You have got to be kidding me!? It's Tuesday again!? Get your sweet tastebuds revved up because it's that time again......

TREAT YOUR SWEET TOOTH TUESDAY!!

I can thank and credit my sweet Aunt Lisa for this week's delectable dish:

CANDY CORN FUDGE

Ingredients:
*8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
*2 cups confectioners sugar
*2 tsp vanilla
*3 cups white chocolate chips
*2 cups mini pretzels or broken pretzels pieces
*1 cup dried cherries
*1 cup candy corn


Directions:

1)  Line an 8 or 9 in square pan with two sheets of wax paper (leaving an overhang on all sides)

2)  Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Beat in the vanilla

3)  Meanwhile, melt white chocolate chips in the microwave according to package directions (1-2 minutes)

4)  Fold in the pretzels, cherries and melted chocolate

5)  Transfer the mixture to prepared pan and top with candy corn

6)  Refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours and up to 2 days)

7)  Using the overhangs, transfer the fudge to a cutting board and cut into 1 inch pieces.

There you have it.....another easy creation. The perfect little treat for a party or family gathering....or just take some to your office and suck up to your coworkers. But here's the downside to making fudge. It is hard to cut every piece just right....there were a few casualties. No biggie unless you can't control the urge to shove each "bad piece" in your mouth because you can't bare to see it go to waste. It's a good thing I'm taking this treat to the church bake sale.....it is not welcome in this house if it can't stay out of my mouth! If you are in Woodward, come help raise money for First United Methodist Church tomorrow at the spaghetti dinner, bake sale and silent auction. You can be one of my taste-testers but it will cost ya.....

If you are making this for a very large group I would suggest doubling the recipe. Another thought....if you aren't a fan of candy corn then just leave it off. The fudge could stand alone easily without the colorful topping. TRUST ME! The taste is the perfect combo of salty and sweet with the pretzels, cherries and chocolate dancing on your tastebuds.

Oh yeah, one more thing.....ENJOY!!

**YUMMY**

GOT MOTIVATION?

Vanilla: The Kicker of Cooking

Picture your favorite football team. Who's your favorite player? Who do you have your eyes on the majority of the game? Who's jersey number would you wear? Who are you most worried about getting injured?


I'm guessing most of you answered "quarterback" to some or all of the above. But what about that poor ol' kicker? He practices all week long just like everyone else and only gets to saunter out on the field occasionally. He's either loved or hated on any given day. He never gets a whole lot of attention but he sure is important. You'd never hear anyone saying "man, if our kicker gets hurt our season is over." I'm sure you have either stopped reading by now or you are sitting there scratching your head wondering where I'm going with this crazy ramble. I couldn't help but notice the similarities between a football kicker and a certain ingredient that pops up in every single sweet treat recipe I've made so far.....

VANILLA.

Since I began my little cooking adventure I've gone through two jars of vanilla extract in a little over two weeks. I think I'd only bought two bottles in my entire life before that. See what I mean....vanilla is so obviously the "kicker of cooking." Used in small amounts but often, usually gives a small contribution but an integral part of the recipe. It's high time we give vanilla the attention he/she deserves.....

Lookin' good vanilla! Check out that slender sillohette!

If you are wondering if I've lost my mind, the answer is YES. Do me a favor....if you find it, please return it to me ASAP! These kitchen adventures are going straight to my head.....or maybe I've inhaled too many vanilla fumes??



GOT MOTIVATION?

Meal in a Bag Night

So cooking every night is for the birds if you ask me. Not that I've actually attempted it but the thought of it makes me cringe. Although I should report that my attempt to kick start my desire to be in the kitchen more has worked more than I had imagined it would. In fact, if I'm not in the kitchen lately I feel awkward and out of place. Furthermore, if I'm not planning my next thing to bake or cook I'm at the store picking up ingredients and supplies. So if you want to know if it's working......yeah, it's working. Just ask my bank account. Cooking is expensive!!! Which brings me to my latest and greatest installment:

MEAL IN A BAG NIGHT. 

Yes ladies (and gentlemen, maybe?), we are allowed to cook meals out of bags every once in awhile and pretend like we made a plate full of pretty food in ten minutes. The hubs will never know!!! ;) I usually steer clear of the frozen food section because I am constantly bombarded with magazines and health experts saying to stay away from frozen meals...preservatives....blah blah blah. Not to mention some of them just end up tasting like garbage. I will say that if you are a freak about sodium content, then meal in a bag night won't be your cup of tea. As I was wandering the grocery store aisles trying to find inspiration the other day I found myself in the "cheat aisle." I thought "what the heck, one night eating a frozen meal never hurt anyone." When I was first married and couldn't even boil water, I used to buy bagged meals all the time. But by the time my picky eating habits got ahold of the bag I had thrown away 3/4 of the meal (veggies and any sort of nut were tossed in the trash.) That usually left Riley and I with three little pieces of meat to share. Hmmm, maybe that's why I steer clear of the frozen aisle too?! (lol)


Tonight as I stood with the fridge door open at 7:30 trying to figure out what to feed us I remembered I had picked out a cheat meal. Bahahahaha!! I was so pleased with this little bag that was waiting for me so conveniently. It almost gave me a satisfaction that I can't describe to open a bag, pour food in a pan and VOILA! I have a meal in minutes. This week's "fool your husband" meal is.......

PF Chang's Shanghai Style Beef

Ready in 13 minutes and served on a bed of brown rice. I got a "bravo" from the hubs. Bag or no bag, he didn't seem to care as long as it was food in his belly.

Ok, now to the serious part of Meal in a Bag Night: was it a keep or toss? I guess that's my whole point of sharing this with you.....is it worth buying or not?!

This lazy meal gets a big FAT KEEP!!!! It really was very tasty (maybe it's because I didn't toss the peppers, beans and onions in the trash before cooking it). Join me in fooling your hubby once a week....I don't want to be the only sneaky one out there! ;)



GOT MOTIVATION?

Reader Recipe: French Toast Casserole

I get a little rush of excitement when I hear of others who are trying new recipes....or even better, trying out The Pink Dish recipes. I love the pictures of your dishes that you all share with me! Don't stop! You keep me inspired. Here's a recipe from another reader who keeps me motivated....

French Toast Casserole

Kathryn Fanning's dish

Ingredients:
*One loaf of french bread
*8 eggs
*3 cups milk
*7 tsp sugar
*1 tsp vanilla
*2 Tbsp butter
*2 tsp cinnamon


Directions:
1) Cube loaf of french bread and spread out in 9 x 13 in greased dish.


2) Mix eggs, milk, vanilla and 4 tsp of sugar in a mixing bowl.


3) Pour over bread cubes, cover and refridgerate overnight.


4) Melt butter and pour over bread and sprinkle with remaining sugar and cinnamon.


5) Bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees (your knife should come out clean when you cut into it)


6) Serve with maple syrup on top and ENJOY!


I vouch for its deliciousness....I got to be a taste-tester! Perfect breakfast dish for a big group! Surprise your Sunday school class and be a hero. ;)




GOT MOTIVATION?