Dinner, Wine, & My Spare Time

Today is Chinese New Year! And I love an excuse to celebrate a holiday with food so here's to the year of the horse! Also, it's Friday and nothing is better than making a meal with someone you love. I've been looking forward to this all week long. Tonight's menu is... Veggie Eggrolls (I cheated these are store-bought, but at least they are from the deli area and not frozen) Sesame Faux-Beef Stir Fry Brown rice, prepared 1 lb. frozen veggie crumbles 1 pkg broccoli slaw 1 pkg cole slaw 3 green onions, chopped sesame oil garlic, minced soy sauce crushed red pepper Prepare rice, set aside. Cook veggie crumbles. Heat sesame oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and green onions cook for 2 minutes. Add slaws and cook for 2 more minutes. Add rice to mixture and veggie crumbles and cook till heated through. Serve with soy sauce and red pepper. Eggrolls, cook as directed.

Dirty Rice Tacos you say? Well I say Ole Ole 1 box prepared Zatarains Dirty Brown Rice 1 C Morningstar Farms veggie crumbles 1 Tbsp taco seasoning 1/4 C water Taco Shells cheese salsa sour cream hot sauce shredded cheese tomatoes green onions Prepare rice mix and set aside. Cook veggie crumbles and taco seasoning with water. Mix into rice. Bake taco shells at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.  Top with your favorite toppings and crunch away.  Ole indeed!

What do get when you take tator tots and combine them with nachos? TOT-CHOS! Here is my latest dinner creation Frozen tator tots, baked as directed Veggie crumbles, cooked with taco seasoning Cheese dip salsa shredded cheese jalapenos green onions tomatoes sour cream hot sauce

As Promised, Four Cheese Baked Ziti 1 lb ziti pasta, prepared 20 oz alfredo sauce 1 C sour cream 2 eggs, beaten 1 15oz container ricotta cheese 1 C parmesan cheese, shredded 1 1/2 C Mozzarella cheese, shredded Parsley Crushed red pepper Italian breadcumbs Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pasta, drain and return to pan. Stir in alfredo sauce and sour cream. Mix together eggs, ricotta, 1/2 C parmesan, parsley and stir into the pasta mixture. Place in a 13x9 inch pan and top with additional 1/2 C of parmesan and all the mozzarella. I also topped mine with crushed red pepper and a light sprinkling of Italian breadcrumbs. Cover with foil and bake 25-30 minutes. Uncover and bake 5-10 additional minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Starting a game night with friends. We are the January hosts. So it's dealer's pick! We are playing BUNCO, and I'm serving up some pastas. Buffalo Chicken Pasta (If you like Buffalo chicken dip, you'll love this!) 1 lb. penne, prepared 1/2 C Franks red hot sauce 1 C blue cheese dressing 2 cups diced chicken (I used shredded rotisserie chicken) 1/2 C green onions, chopped 1 1/4 C shredded cheddar 1 1/4 C shredded colby jack Prepare pasta, drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together hot sauce and dressing add chicken, 1 C of each cheese and onions.  Place in a 13x9 inch pan and top with additional 1/2 C of cheeses. I also topped mine with a light sprinkling of Italian breadcrumbs. Bake 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. I also made a Four-Cheese Baked Ziti, but I'll post that later.

HA! Bridesmaids,  such a funny quote from that movie. But it got me thinking about what could I make for dinner for very little $. So I ransacked my pantry and freezer and here is a list of my dinner menu and prices. Vegetable Eggrolls from Walmart $2.50 Frozen Steamable Edamame from Target $1.66 on sale Knorr Sides-Thai Rice from Harp's $1, but I had a .50 coupon that they doubled, so it was free!!! The grand total is $4.16, not too bad since this meal will probably make 3 servings. One dinner for two and leftovers for one! Which is  only a $1.39 per serving. Hmmm that's cheap enough you could throw in a decent bottle of wine and still spend less than $20.

Sunday as I was typing up my burger post I started to wonder WHO is really reading these posts? WHO understands the time and effort it takes to type up and photograph all of my cooking exploits? WHO argues with her husband over the perfect lighting for a pic of a burger? (Seriously, what vegetarian does this?) That being said yesterday, I checked my blog stats and was blown away that I had 222  248 page views on my 50/50 burger post. And it is all because the WHO is YOU! Thank you for dining with me!

At breakfast this morning I asked the hubs what he wanted to eat for dinner and he said BURGERS! Sigh of course he wants meat the holidays have spoiled him, but at least it was a recipe for a burger that I found. So he made 50/50 burgers. What is a 50/50 burger you ask? Well it is half ground beef and half sausage, which makes for a decadent and according to the hubs...delicious burger. He gave it a 9, what do you think???

Once upon a time the hubs ate a pizza at a restaurant that is now closed. Then the other night I literally threw together some bruschetta to which the hubs exclaimed this is really good it tastes like this pizza I used to get, you need to make this more often. Or he said something to that effect. So I decided to turn this bruschetta into a pizza. This blast from the past pizza pays homage to Gregorio's Tre Favoloso 1 premade pizza crust 3 Tbsp oil, flavored (I used Basil) 1 C shredded Italian cheese blend chopped white onions chopped green onions chopped tomatoes Another cup of Italian cheese Italian seasoning Crushed red pepper Preheat oven to 450, once preheated turn down to 425. Brush crust with oil. Top with cheese, onions, tomatoes, more cheese, Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper. Bake 10 minutes, directly on the oven rack. It was so good, we didn't even need ranch to dip it in! Good News blog readers I finally made it where you can post comments. J

Since my last journey to the Hippie Grocery Store aka Whole Foods, which I am not mocking only lamenting that we don't have one close, I bought some falafel mix that I have been hungry for ever since so we decided to have some falafels and couscous for dinner last night. 1 pkg falafel mix, prepared (I bake mine instead of frying, just to be a little healthier) lettuce tomato crumbled feta dressing of your choice or hummus pita bread, split Couscous mix, prepared Prepare couscous, I usually put mine in the rice cooker.  Prepare falafel mix with water and let sit about 10 minutes. Form balls and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes on each side. Stuff with lettuce, tomato, falafels, feta and dressing or hummus. Serve with couscous and top with smoked paprika  if you are that kind of girl and I am!

The hubs has been having a hankering for BLTs. So I relented with a few additions*  Of course I had mine minus the bacon. Wheat berry bread Mayo Bacon slices Lettuce Tomato slices *Swiss Cheese *Avocado slices *Dijon mustard I had to snap the pic fast, since hubby had already started chomping down. But he just returned from a 12 mile bike ride so he was entitled. :-)

This is a spare time post My question to you is how many wine cork holders, does one have to have before they have a problem? Actually the problem is people keep giving these cork holders to me for gifts! Not that I am complaining. Hmm, I could really go for some wine right about now? How about you?

According to Southern tradition eating greens, cornbread, blackeyed peas and ham on New Year's Day will bring you fortune in the year to come. So here is the meaning behind these foods  and my take on New Year's Day Dinner. Greens -represent dollar bills ensuring wealth and luck. Cornbread -symbolizes gold. Blackeyed peas -to ensure that your New Year  will be filled with  luck, fortune, and romance. Ham or pork- represents luck. Hoppin' John -increases your chance of prosperity. This is traditionally a meal made with blackeyed peas, rice, onion, peppers and ham. Arugula & Spinach salad with Honey Dijon vinaigrette  Fresh arugula Fresh spinach Crumbled blue cheese Chopped sweet onion Vinaigrette 2 tsp Dijon mustard 2 tsp honey 2 tsp balsamic vinegar 6 Tbsp olive oil salt and pepper to taste Layer salad in order above and toss with dressing before serving. Linda's Cornbread (Thanks Linda!) 2 small boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix 1 C shredd