Farmhouse Rules

Have yall seen the new Paula Deen of the Food Network? Her name is Nancy Fuller. I caught her show this past weekend and although she was a tad bit annoying, her food was not! She made Gopher Bars which are brownies topped with mint buttercream frosting - yum. She also made Prime Rib Sandwiches with Horseradish Sauce.... YUM.

Freezer Meals

With the new gig I have less time to cook so I made some freezer meals on a Sunday afternoon. It took about 3-4 hours including shopping time so it is a bit of a commitment. The only thing I wish I had done differently was use smaller tins because there are only two of us and I can only bare leftovers for 2 nights in a row.  Also, I doubled each recipe. I would have to say that the chicken and wild rice is the fastest to make out of them all. And I have a lot of frozen veggies in the freezer so I will pair those up with these meals.

Here are the recipes I made -

Baked Ziti (I used gluten free penne)

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole ( I haven't tried this yet but I botched up both recipes because I forgot to buy cream of chicken soup - so for one I added another cup or water and the other I added a combo of sour cream/mayo - who knows what will happen.)

Layered Enchilada Casserole (I used corn tortillas)

Enjoy!

Chili Lime Shrimp Kabobs

Dave and I made this on Sunday night at it was DELISH! I grabbed the recipe from Pinterest! It makes about 8-10 kabobs. It definitely makes enough for 2 meals and we had it over rice.

Friday 5

1. I cannot believe that it is already time for Lucille's birthday. She would have been 32 on Saturday. Where has this year gone? I hope she is having some Chandon champagne up in heaven.

2. My friend Merris and I went to see the movie, About Time, this past weekend. It's by the people who did Love Actually and Notting Hill - and it is very much like those movies! It's about a guy who can go back in time to have a "re-do" whenever he wants. His goal was to find love, which he did, with Rachel McAdams. They're adorable. Not sure if it's a must see in the theatre but it's a definite rental.

3. Clementines are everywhere. I love me some clementines! 

4. Have you ever had a week where you didn't know what day it was and you thought every day was Friday? That was my week. I cannot wait to sleep in tomorrow and make some gluten free apple oatmeal in the slow cooker. Yum yum.

5. In using what I have got already in my kitchen, I made a (very unhealthy) Chicken broccoli casserole by Trisha Yearwood last night. It was a bit salty but all in all, tasty! Plus I already had the cooked chicken, broccoli and rice from another meal so it really worked out to my benefit :) Of course you could always just buy a rotisserie chicken at the store to save some time.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 3 cups cooked chopped broccoli
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 TB lemon juice
• 1 10 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 10 oz Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 4 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
• 2
  Spread the rice in an even layer in the baking dish. Make a second layer with the broccoli.
• 3
  In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, condensed soup, half of the grated cheese, and the salt, pepper and chicken. Pour this mixture over the broccoli and top with the remaining grated cheese. Bake for 40 minutes.
• 4
  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Slow Cooker Veggie Beef Soup!

I made this last night and it made enough for an army. Which is great, because now I will freeze half! With the cold weather hitting us hard this week, I have been in soup mode! This soup I found on Pinterest and all it really entails is popping open a bunch of canned veggies. My kind of easy! Here is the original link to the recipe. Sorry my picture is so lousy! I had already put the soup away in the fridge before I remembered I needed to snap a pic of it for the blog! Ha! Go to the link above for a pretty (and hot) picture ha!

Slow Cooker Veggie Beef Soup 

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground round
• ½ medium onion, diced
• 2 (15-ounce) cans mixed vegetables, drained
• 2 cups fresh Lima beans or 1 (15-ounce) can Lima beans, drained
• 2 cups fresh corn off the cob 1 (15-ounce) can niblet corn, drained
• 2 cups carrots, sliced or 1 (15-ounce) can carrots, drained
• 4 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomatoes and okra
• 2 cups water

*add a tablespoon of salt

Instructions

1. Cook ground round and onions until browned. Add to slow cooker along with all other ingredients.
2. Cook in slow cooker for 4 hours on low.

Dinner Tonight!

Ina's baked lemon chicken (sort of)-
2-4 chicken breasts
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried thyme
2 chopped garlic cloves
2 T lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/3 cup Pinot Grigio
1/4 cup olive oil
Slice up a lemon and tuck it around the chicken.
Preheat oven to 400. Bake for 40 mins.
Then broil the chicken for 5-8 mins on Hi until browned.

Gwyneth Paltrow's Roasted Cauliflower -
You can bake this beside the chicken if you would like to!
In a 9x13 baking dish toss cauliflower with 2 T of olive oil and sprinkle with a good amount of salt and pepper.
If baking with chicken flow those instructions. If not, bake on 450 for 35 mins.