Italian Tacos

Here is a small twist on a recipe we all know and love, TACOS!!!!!! But here is how I like to eat them...

YOU WILL NEED:
Taco shells- soft or hard, both are delish for this!
Ground Turkey
Zesty Italian dressing
Tomatoes
Shredded cheese
Lettuce
Green onion
Sour Cream
Taco seasoning

Cook your ground turkey with the taco seasoning as you normally do. Then chop the tomato and green onion. Shred the cheese and lettuce.
Layer in taco shell or tortilla meat, lettuce, tomato, green onion, ZESTY italian dressing, and sour cream if you so desire. Then enjoy! not much direction needed here, just a fun twist on regular taco night!

Louisiana Chicken Spaghetti

If you like creamy and spicy this is the dish for you! You can make it less spicy if you want by using MILD rotel or just reg. can tomatoes and green chiles. I have been wanting to try this for awhile but never found one recipe I thought was perfect. So finally I combined my favorite aspects of three different ones into a little recipe of my own. So here it is!



YOU WILL NEED:
Boiled Chicken- cubed
Noodles of your choice
1 Can Rotel
1 Can cream of Mushroom soup
8 oz Velveeta cheese
Green Bell Pepper
Onion
Butter
Seasoning
Milk

First boil your chicken (I used season all, just dash it in the water) and cube when its done. Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare noodles according to package.
In a medium saucepan saute onion and bell pepper in butter until onion is clear.
Then add your mushroom soup, one can of milk, and 1 can drained rotel.
Melt the velveeta (i did it in the mircowave with a little milk but you can cube it and put it in the pan if you want. i think it will take longer to melt.)
Add cheese and chicken to sauce pan and stir well.
Put drained noodles into a 13x9 baking dish and cover with sauce and chicken mixture.
Toss to coat noodles. The sauce will seem a bit thin but it will set up while its baking.
Put in oven for about 15 min. or until hot and bubbly. Give a good toss when its done and serve!




I am linking to Designs by Gollum's FOODIE FRIDAY!

Taco salad

I didn't make the shell because I didn't have any tortillas and it still came out delish! I just used romaine lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, avacado, sour cream, chicken, and taco sauce!

Boil chicken and shred. Put in pan and add taco seasoning and water if your package calls for it. (I use McCormick from Costco because I like to LOAD it with seasoning!)

To make your own shell just brush tortilla with oil and drape over an upside down bowl and bake in the oven til crispy!

Then top the lettuce with your choice of toppings! I like to use taco bell sauce that comes in a jar at the store. :o]

Mid week menu plan

Soooo I got a late start this week but since I am going grocery shopping today I made the menu plan for a week ahead. I cut about 10 coupons which will save me a little over $10. AND between a sale and my coupon I'm gettin a free ketchup! SAWEEET!

THURS:
L- Ham and Cheese Sandwiches and chips
D- Chicken Tacos and mexican rice

FRI:
L- Mexican Pizza (recipe from my cousin-in-law- find it HERE)
D- Steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli

SAT:
L- Frozen lunch
D- Italian chicken and noodles

SUN:
L-Leftovers
D- Taco Salad (recipe coming soon)

MON:
L-Burgers and chips
D- Spaghetti and texas toast

TUES:
L- Frozen lunch
D- Honey dijon chicken and salad

WED:
L- Pizza
D- Crock pot Beef Ranchero (recipe coming soon)

:o]

Tortellini Alfredo

I took this with my phone, sorry its not better quality.

One of my personal favorite dishes, EVER!

You will need:
Six Cheese Tortellini (I get mine from Schwans)
Broccoli
Sweet onion
Alfredo Sauce (I don't like the jar kind so I use the McCormick Packet of Creamy Garlic Alfredo)

Cook tortellini according to package. Start the alfredo sauce also according to package. Saute your onion in oil and steam your broccoli. When all is done, put in pan and mix together. EASY as 1-2-3!

Menu Plan Monday

OOPSIE! Looks like I'm a little LATE on the date! Oh well..! I have found that shopping on sunday for the entire week and STICKING TO THE MENU reallllly helps! Here is our week...

MONDAY:
L- Ham & Cheese w/ chips
D- Leftovers (pizza pasta and salad from night before)

TUESDAY:
L- Clucks and Fries (Crispy chicken tenders)
D- Steak with baked potatoes and corn (danny's fav. meal- I grilled steak for the first time and it was PERFECT!)

WEDNESDAY:
L- Lunch at Janet's house
D- Four Cheese Tortellini with Alfredo sauce, broccoli, and sauteed onion

THURSDAY:
L- Grilled Cheese for Danny & Preston (kelly and tabby are going out for Tab's b day!)
D- Pot Roast with carrots and onions and Mashed potatoes (Crock Pot)

FRIDAY:
L- Burgers and Fries
D- Chicken Tacos and Homemade Mexican Rice

SATURDAY:
L- We will be out and about this day
D- Crock pot Lasagna

SUNDAY:
L- Quesadillas w/ Avacado Salsa
D- Terriyaki Chicken Kabobs with peppers, onions and rice

I love to get new ideas from others so please leave a comment if you have something to share! I will post about a few of the dishes this week. :o]

What's for dinner?!

Tonight I made Southwestern chicken with FRESH PICKED onion and green bell pepper, and mexican rice. I wanted to share how DELICIOUS it was!




Check out these veggies my grandparents grew...

The chicken came marinated already so I can't give you the recipe for that. And I just tossed in the veggies a few min with the chicken and oil to cook them. The rice is a recipe from my friend Aleena and I am ADDICTED to it! I use el pato in it which my hubby and I love love love! I had to put some sour cream in Preston's since I make it so spicy but he really loved it if you can't tell by the picture..



What did you have for dinner?

Cinnamon Apples

Preston really likes the stewed cinnamon apples from Chili's and my Mom had given me a bunch of apples so I decided to make them for him. I of course called my Mom and said, how do I make stewed apples.. and well, here they are! Great for kids and babies!

YOU WILL NEED:
Apples
Sugar
Water
Cinnamon
Butter

Wash and peel your apples. I didn't put amounts on the supplies because you might just need to judge it by how many apples YOU are using. But I used 3 apples. Then dice them up into your desired sized pieces. Put them in a sauce pan with your water (I used 1/4 cup), Sugar (I used 2 teaspoons), cinnamon (I used 1 teaspoon) and a little bit of butter. (I think I used about a 1/2 tablespoon). Stir and simmer on low stirring occasionally until your apples are to your desired chewiness! is that a word?! Well, Preston LOVED them. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Crumble Bread

I have never made bread before, and I was going to do banana bread but Danny informed me he doesn't like banana bread so I found this cinnamon one and it looked so good! So here it is! I thought it would come out a little bit thicker (like the loaf would be taller) but it tasted great..Good luck!




Ready in: 30-60 minutes
Serves/Makes: 10
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
***CRUMBLE TOPPING***
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut up
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a loaf pan. Sift the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. With an electric mixer at low speed, beat in the milk, butter, and egg.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes (I did 40 but I think i'll do 35 next time and check), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For Crumble Topping: Dot the butter over the cake. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon. Cool the loaf completely in the pan on a rack.

Pizza Bites

This was another recipe that is my first time making it so I'll let you learn from my mistakes!

You will need:
Pizza dough (I used pillsbury in a can)
Mozzerella Cheese
Your choice of fillings (I used Mini pepperonis)
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Italian herbs (I used McCormick italian herbs grinder shown in pic #2)
Pizza sauce for dipping

Preheat your oven 400 degrees (or whatever the packaging says on your dough)
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Mine was a little lopsided and next time I will use a floured rolling pin to even it out.

Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into squares (at least 2"x2") I got about 20 squares out of mine.

Place cheese and toppings in center of each square. (I will probably use more cheese next time, or maybe use fresh mozz and cut it in chunks instead of shredded, but it works fine if thats all you have like me!)



Then you will take opposite corners of each square and pinch them together making a ball and place them in a greased baking dish pinched part down. I left a TINY bit of space between them so they could expand.

Brush the tops with some EVOO and put on some italian seasonings if you so choose.

Place in oven until tops are golden brown, heat up your sauce, dip, and enjoy!! (I think I baked mine about 12-15 min. but check them often!!)

Crunchy Chicken Parm Bake

This is again, my first time making this. Not only is it easy and quick, but there are very few ingredients! The picture is horrible because I had to take it with my phone. But it looked, smelled, and tasted FANTASTIC! Off we go...

You will need:
Bonless, skinless chicken breasts (defrosted)
Spaghetti Sauce
Shredded Mozzerella cheese
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Garlic Croutons
E.V. olive oil
Crushed red peppers-dried spice kind (optional)
Minced garlic

Put a few teaspoons in the bottom of a baking dish and add some minced garlic (i used a teaspoon) and spread it around to coat the dish. Sprinkle on your red pepper flakes if you are using it.

Then place the chicken breasts into the dish and top with spaghetti sauce. Make sure you completely cover all the chicken.

Top with both kinds of cheese to your liking (but go easy, you will be adding more!)

Then place a single layer of croutons on top of the entire dish. Add more of both cheeses to the top.

Place in your oven @ 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

YUM!!!!!!

Crock Pot Taco Soup

I found this recipe on a great blog. if you like to cook with your crock pot, this is the site for you! To get the recipe for TACO SOUP click HERE! I made this for myself and my parents neighbors who are sweet people that are in need of a little TLC. It was soooooooo easy! I had a little beef leftover from the night before when I made pot roast and so I shredded it and put it in here. I did mine for 5 hours on HIGH.

Burrito Quesadillas with Avacado Salsa

Once again, this is a first time for me. I saw this on a YouTube video and it looked really yummy! Danny was at the house working all day and was starving when he got home so I thought it would be a good time to try this QUICK recipe! This is the easiest, quickest thing to make!

You Will Need:
Flour tortillas
Refried Beans
Shredded Cheese
Butter or spread
Sour cream (optional)

To make this you just heat up your skillet, put some butter or spread on your tortilla and put it butter side down in the skillet. Spread on some refried beans and sprinkle with cheese. Butter up another tortilla and put it on top, butter side up (for when you flip it). Let it cook til crispy, and then flip and cook til that side is crispy. DONE! SOOO easy!

For the Avacado Salsa which is my own recipe You Will Need:
Salsa
Ripe Avacado

Simply cut up an avacado and pour salsa over it. Then use a fork to mash it to your liking. DONE and DONE! Enjoy!

Here is a pic of little man P scarfing it down!

Chicken Fried Rice

This is my first time making this. I am HORRIBLE at making rice, even minute rice.. So I tried this rice called "Success Boil-in-a-bag". It came out perfect!!

You will need:
About 2 cups of rice
Veggies (I used a frozen mix- carrots, peas, etc.)
2 eggs- scrambled
Meat if you choose to use it- This is great for using leftovers. I had boiled chicken left over from shredded chicken tacos (I'll post this another day!)
Cooking oil of your choice (I used vegetable oil, but canola or peanut oil might be better..)
SOY Sauce of your choice (I used Kikkomen Terriyaki sauce and Marinade because I didn't have plain soy. it sounds gross to use terriyaki but its super thin and really tastes like soy!)

First things first.. You MUST prepare your rice and put it in a bowl in the fridge for a couple hours! Your rice must be cold or else it will get really soggy when you go to saute it.

I started on my scrambled eggs first. I put them in a pan on med heat and let it get hot enough to form a firm "skin" on the bottom so I could flip it over in one piece and cook the top. Then I took it out and slice it into strips.

I put about a tablespoon of oil in my pan on medium-high heat and added in my rice. Use a spatula to stir. I put my veggies in about 2 min. later because they were still frozen. Put in your chicken. Then add your sauce (to your taste) and fold everything together. After you let it saute for a few min. add in your egg. Fold and saute for about 2 more min. and you're done! Not bad for my first time..even Preston liked it! Good luck to you!

Welcome to Kell's Kitchen!

I decided it was time to make a blog about my cooking adventures. I started getting interested in cooking and baking about a year ago, and think its time to start documenting my efforts and recipes. I don't have too many recipes I just made up. I get a lot of them from the internet, friends, and my Mom-the chef. See her blog here -----> Really Rainey

I am a TOTAL beginner when it comes to this area so bare with me! I usually make stuff that is really simple and has minimal ingredients. I am not quite good at keeping my kitchen "stocked" quite yet so I'm usually scrounging up whatever I can to complete a meal! So for all you people out there just like me, here you go!