Fast and... almost Fantastic

I tried two new recipes this week and both deserve at least a mention.

The first was a yummy chili called Lizard Stew. The boys liked it and I would definitely consider making it again on a busy night because it can be cooked in a pot right before serving, or just left in the crockpot all day until you are ready to eat.

Lizard Stew

1 lb hamburger browned and drained

26 oz. Can Minestrone Soup

15 oz. can ranch-style chili beans

10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 lb. Velveeta (I use the lower fat made with 2% milk)

Combine all ingredients except cheese and heat until bubbly. Add cheese and heat until melted. Serve over corn chips. If done in crockpot just add cheese about 30 minutes before serving.

What I LIked: It was full of flavor and just the right amount of heat. It was so easy to make and the kids liked it. The name :) what's not too love about that. I also like that it has lots of veggies and fiber from the beans. It didn't take much to make me feel super full!

What I didn't like: It is super high in sodium and fairly high in calories and fat, but as mentioned above it does have a pretty high nutritional content as well, so in moderation it's a pretty decent meal. It has Velveeta in it... it's kind of hard for me to get behind a meal that has processed cheese product.

If I were to give it a grade, Lizard stew would get a B, and I will keep on standby for a crazy night that needs a warm meal.

The other meal was called Fast and Fantastic Black Bean Soup, and fast it was, but I wouldn't give it fantastic. I love black beans and I love soup. I thought it would be a great meal with some quesadillas. It was pretty good, but left something to be desired. Tyler thinks cilantro, and it probably would have helped if I had remembered the green onion on top.

What I liked: It was easy to make. The flavor was pretty good especially with a little sour cream and quesadillas. It was a good portion size for our little family.

What I didn't Like: Again with the Velveeta, but this helped me use up some of what was left. The beans didn't really blend to smooth so there were funny little bits in it. The flavor was kind of weak.

I would probably give this one a B-, and will consider it again as a cold day lunch, and maybe add more salsa or some herbs and spices to give it a little more flavor.

Hopefully this week I will come up with a family favorite that's a healthy timesaver.

A New Family Favorite

I think it was January of 2010 that I decided I would try to make one new dinner each week. I Wish I could say I now have over 60 new dinners in my repertoire, but I failed. After a few weeks I ran into roadblocks, and, like other new years resolutions, it died out.

This has nothing to do with why I tried a new recipe tonight. Really that was just necessity. I had some left over brown rice and a somewhat picky 8 year old coming for dinner along with no hubby to keep the hungry boys occupied until it was done. I knew I could pretty easily throw together some chicken and rice with some vegetable and some cream of something soup, but that sounded pretty lack luster to me.

I like the Kraft website because you can put in ingredients that you have and it will give you recipes that match. My ingredients: chicken, brown rice, and carrots. I almost passed over this recipe because I didn't like the name. I was hoping for something healthy with a moderate calorie count, and the name just didn't shout that to me, but turns out at less than 500 Calories per serving it wasn't too bad (and by the way a serving was way more than enough for me). So, here it is:

Farmhouse Chicken Dinner (see what I mean about the name, sounds a little too hearty)

I made a few adjustments:

• I didn't have any Light Zesty Italian, only Fat Free Italian, which doesn't work to cook chicken in so I mixed half olive oil and half dressing. It worked fine, but I'm sure it would also be great as directed.
• After reading a couple of reviews I got worried that it was going to be bland, so I added a little garlic salt. I think it would be great to add some to the flour mixture, although I didn't feel the dish was bland at all.
• It didn't take 20 minutes!! I hate overcooked chicken so at about 14 minutes of simmering I stuck my meat thermometer in and discovered it was cooked through so I took it out.
• I didn't use instant rice because I already had leftover brown rice. The rice doesn't cook with the chicken, so it doesn't matter.
• I forgot the parsley... oops

What I liked:

It was very easy to make and called for ingredients that I almost always have on hand. It was delicious; the combination of flavors seemed right to me, but I'm no food critic. The carrots were yummy and flavored with the sauce and cooked to just tender (with only 14 minutes). The chicken was cooked to perfection. I don't know if I or the recipe get credit for that, but either way it was luscious (ok I know Ryan Lamb doesn't read my blog, but if he did he would be laughing right now)

What I didn't like:

Once it was all served up on the plate, it had a bit of a casserole feel to it and that's just not my favorite, nor Tyler's. The sauce didn't thicken, at least in the time that I gave it. Even runny, it made for a great gravy.

Back to how I started this long post - this meal has inspired me to get back to my one new meal each week goal, but this time I have a new idea of how to stick with it. I am going to post the recipe and my review each week. I hope you enjoy. If not, maybe at some point I'll follow it with pictures of my always darling boys :)

Also, if you have any favorite dinner recipes please share!

Your Secret Weapons Please

Yes, it has been months since my last post and now you happen upon my blog and you are greeted with a post about the least glamorous of all motherly duties... cleaning the bathroom. Well I'm sorry, but that is what is on my mind this lovely saturday morning. I woke up motivated to get my Saturday chores done, mostly because Tyler would be leaving for work at noon and I wanted to get it done before I had both boys to entertain all by myself. That tends to slow down the cleaning, so off I went. I grabbed my trusty bin of scrubbing, disinfecting, and sparkling bathroom cleaning chemicals.

It seems since early on in my life it has been hard for me to commit to any one particular set of cleaners. There must be something to clean mirrors, disinfect and clean countertops. Wipe away nasty toilet germs, bleach the heck out of the toilet bowl and finally make my tub and shower sparkle! I'm fairly comfortable with my selection of cleaners for mirrors, counters, and toilets, but the tub and shower have always left me a little befuddled. Frequently the two are made of different materials and have different needs. Clearly the shower walls need something that sprays and the tub must have something the bubbles up and disinfects. Often, when Tyler is faced with shower/tub he feels it is sufficient to spray it down with water and finish off with our standard after shower spray. I feel strongly that this is not enough. Seriously friends, we stand in their naked... and with BARE feet!!! That thing needs bleached.

Generally for the tub part I look to comet. I love the bubbles, the sparkle and the germ killing goodness. I have even found a lemon scented version and enjoy it very much... but this still leaves the shower walls and doors. I faced an even greater dilemma this week as I realized that I was out of comet and had forgotten to pick up more. So I looked in the bin... windex... not germ killing enough, clorox wipes... not scrubby bubbly enough, toilet bowl cleaner... hmmm bleach, check, bubbly check why not. Well news flash, this is some strong stuff. For my bathroom I wore gloves and was pleased with the final result. After a deep scrub to the tub I sprayed everything out and finished off with a leave on shower spray for the walls. Near the end however I discovered a hole in my gloves and realized I would have to go gloveless for the remaining bathrooms, ICK. Oh well what was I to do? There was a job that must be done and I am the woman for the job, so I set forth looking forward to a nice antibacterial hand scrubbing and moisturizing following the dirty task.

It was then that discovered the harshness of the toilet bowl cleaner. I would say strong base to say the least. My hands feel awful, and now I'm a little worried to put naked baby bums back in the tub. I rinsed much more carefully (like 5 or 6 times) this time around and was still satisfied with the final result but decided that I will definitely need to make a trip to the store before my next bathroom cleaning adventure. Alas, all bathrooms again sparkle and shine... at least for now. Not to mention, I managed to get them all done before 10:30 :) good day. But, my question for all of you faithful readers (hmmm I better post this to facebook so I at least get 2 or 3 of you...) What do you have in your arsenal for that oh so gruesome job? I feel ready to commit so that I don't have to face down the daunting cleaner aisle at Target ever again feeling vulnerable and unprepared. Help me please!