Sprained

So, I have managed to sprain my knee and have to take it easy for the next 2 weeks and am rather restricted on what I can do. Therefore, I may not be cooking as often as I would like because I can't bend down to get many of my cooking utensils that I have to use for most of my recipes. Unfortunately, this also means being very bored and watching a lot of T.V. and movies in the mean time. Oh well, it's relaxing, right? So anyways, thought I would let those of you who read my blog know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I just can't do as much cooking as I would like.

Happy eating anyways!

Taco Pizza

Tonight's dinner was taco pizza! Who knew that two very different dishes from two very different worlds could end up tasting so good? Combining tacos originating in Mexico, pizza originating in Italy, Jen originating in Ohio and the result is delicious! Just so you know, the pizza dough I used was the one I had previously made for the spinach artichoke pizza found here: http://whatsfordinnerjenny.blogspot.com/2014/06/okey-dokey-artichokey.html and it turned out just as delicious as the last time!

What You Need:

• pizza dough
• 1 can refried beans
• hamburger
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 2 small tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small jalapeño, sliced
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
• sour cream for garnish
• pizza pan or stone

How To Do It:

First, make up your pizza dough or, if you're using store-bought dough, start filling in the dough with refried beans. I stuck mine in the oven for a few minutes on 350°F as I browned my hamburger with the onion. After the hamburger is browned, remove pizza from oven and spread the meat over the beans. Next, spread the tomatoes and jalapeños over the meat. Finally, sprinkle the cheese over the pizza and put back in the oven, still on 350°F, for 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. I like to garnish with sour cream which makes it delicious! Happy cooking!

You'll notice that half the pizza does not have meat on it. I simply put an extra layer of beans on the vegetarian side and an extra amount of tomatoes.

As I said earlier, garnish with sour cream is delicious!

Mushroom Ragoût

Last night's dinner was something I found in a new vegetarian cookbook that I bought recently. It's definitely new for me and is not something I would typically make probably because it's primarily mushrooms. But it turned out really well! 

So first, a quick definition for you: ragoût is a main-dish stew that comes from the French word ragoûter, meaning "to revive the taste." And I've got to say that, for someone who finds mushrooms rubbery and kind of bland at times, the meaning of the base word actually applies to this recipe! It was delicious!

So, now to get to it! Happy cooking!

What You Need:

• 2/3 stick butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion
• small brown mushrooms
• 2 tsp basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash of black pepper
• 1/2 cup red wine
• medium pot
• parsley for garnish
• blue cheese for garnish

How To Do It:

First, heat butter and oil in medium pot to medium heat. Add garlic, onion, mushrooms, and basil to pan; season with salt and pepper. Cover saucepan and cook for 10 minutes, without stirring. Remove the lid, increase heat to high and add wine. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes more, or until mushrooms are tender. Serve with brown rice, and garnish with blue cheese crumbles and parsley flakes.

Pasta with Summer Vegetables

Tonight's dinner was a very easy one to make and took less than 15 minutes start to finish! And the ingredients cost less than you would expect to pay for the same meal at Olive Garden. Tonight's dinner was one of the simplest, tasty dinners you can ever imagine! So, let's get to it!

What You Need:

• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 1 box fettucine or linguine pasta
• medium skillet
• medium pot

How To Do It:

First, add water to the medium pot with a dash of salt and some olive oil and bring to a boil. Next, slice the vegetables into small slices and add them to a skillet with 2 Tbsp butter and the minced garlic on medium heat. When the water is boiling, add the box of pasta and allow to boil for 9 to 11 minutes or until tender. Drain the pasta of the water and return to the pot. Add the cooked vegetables to the pasta and stir with 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Serve hot with parmesan cheese and parsley flakes with garlic bread. 

Enjoy!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

This Independence Day, I made spinach and artichoke dip that I found on Pinterest from one of my favorite bloggers! The link to her website with the recipe posted is here: http://natashaskitchen.com/2012/09/30/spinach-and-artichoke-dip-recipe/.

What You Need:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 16 oz sour cream
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 14 oz artichoke hearts, chopped
- 10 frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 2 small cloves garlic, crushed
- medium pot 

How To Do It:
First of all, in the medium pot, heat the cream cheese, sour cream, butter, and cheese on medium-low heat. Stir the contents generously and often until everything is combined well and creamy. Add the chopped artichoke hearts, spinach, and crushed garlic. Stir everything again and continue stirring until the entire mixture is completely warmed through. Serve with tortilla chips, fresh vegetables, or a sliced baguette.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

So this past Sunday, my husband and I made the trek to Ohio to visit family and Monday night was a family dinner. We had eight of us total including Grandpa Francis and Granny Wright around the table. I prepared the meal and although it wasn't my usual "everything is homemade" kind of meal, everything was delicious! Our menu was spaghetti with meat sauce (meatless for the hubby), garlic bread, Italian bread, and cherry crumble pie for dessert. The only thing I actually put effort into was the spaghetti sauce so I will share the recipe for that. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of everything before we stuffed our faces and looked like small children eating spaghetti for the first time.

* My meal was made for eight people. If you're not making for that many, halving this recipe will work best.

What You Need:

- 7 jars of spaghetti sauce (different flavors are A-OK)

- 4 lb. hamburger

- 2 green peppers

- 1 large onion

- Italian seasoning

- Brown sugar

- Garlic powder

- Onion salt

- Large Crock-Pot

- Large skillet

- Slotted spoon

How To Do It:

First, you'll want to chop your veggies up and put them in a skillet until soft. While the vegetables are cooking, open the jars and dump the contents into the large Crock-Pot. After the veggies are all soft, dump them into the sauce in the Crock-Pot. Now you can start browning your thawed hamburger. After the hamburger is browned, use a slotted spoon to remove the chunks so as to alleviate some of the grease you may have at the bottom of the skillet. As you are removing the hamburger from the skillet, drop the chunks by the spoonful into the sauce. When all of your hamburger and veggies are stirred well into the sauce, add a couple shakes of Italian seasoning (as the sauce already has seasoning), about 4 Tbsp. brown sugar, a couple shakes of garlic powder (be careful, it can come out of the container pretty fast), and a couple shakes of onion salt. Stir everything until mixed well and you don't see anymore dark spots from the brown sugar. Leave in the Crock-Pot on high heat 4 hours or low heat 8 hours, stirring as often as you can. This is an easy recipe to just let sit and is not high-maintenance at all.

Make sure to get your faces good and messy with this meal and let me know how it turned out!