Grandmothers Cookbook Giveaway

As part of the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival I am thrilled to be giving away a copy of Grandmother's Cookbook

Carrie Gamble has been a friend for quite some time now and she very generously offered us this cookbook for the giveaway.

To enter, visit Carrie's site at http://www.grandmotherscookbook.com/ Take a look at the family love letter and post here something you learned from the love letter.

For an additional entry, follow me on twitter, http://twitter.com/audreyokaneko then post another comment letting me know your user name and that you're now following me.

For a third entry, blog about this contest and post a comment with the URL to the post.

This contest closes at midnight October 31st, 2008, pacific time. Contest is open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address and over the age of 18.

More giveaways at the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival!

Good luck to everyone!!

Audrey :)

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

This is one of my kid’s favorite dinners. The enchiladas are easy to prepare and reheat great:

3 cans cream of chicken soup
1 4-oz. can of diced green chiles
1 cup sour cream (I use light)
1 soup can of milk (I use low fat)
Diced cooked chicken
2 dozen corn tortillas
Grated cheese to put on top

Mix soup, chiles, sour cream and milk together in a large pot. Heat until it bubbles. Remove from heat and dip tortillas into mixture one at a time. Make sure entire tortilla get covered in sauce. Place chicken onto tortillas and roll. Place the rolled enchiladas into a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve with guacamole and sour cream.

I have made the enchiladas and prior to cooking, frozen them. I then defrost, cook, add cheese, and they are great.

Audrey :)

Top Ramen Noodles and Rice

My kids were visiting my sister one summer and with dinner my sister served something my kids had never seen before. She made ramen noodles and rice mixed together.

We have always eaten ramen noodles. We buy almost every flavor they make. We make them plain. We have cut up both chicken and beef and added the meats to the noodles. My sister however added rice to the noodles. My kids loved it.

The sauce packet that comes with ramen noodles is very high in sodium. If you add flavored rice to the noodles, you don’t need to use the sauce packet. If you add white rice to the noodle packet you’ll use the sauce packet but each serving has a lower amount of sodium since you’ve now added another item to the mixture.

My sister actually cuts up the noodles after boiling so that they are short like the rice kernels. Then she mixes the two together.

One other option is to make your own chicken broth or beef broth and then add both the package of ramen noodles and also the white rice. You won’t be using the sauce packet and you can also add cut up vegetables and pieces of chicken or beef to the mixture.

I actually found a blog that is all about ramen noodles http://mattfischer.com/ramen/. This blog features recipes, commentary and tons of information about ramen noodles.

Audrey :)

Ten Tips For Using Your Crockpot

In today’s busy world, more and more people are using crockpots to prepare the families evening meal. I know some folks who have two crockpots. They use the large one to prepare meats or poultry and they use the small one to prepare side dishes and desserts.

There are many tips to make using your crockpot even easier:

1. Don’t lift the lid to take a peak. I have read over and over that if you do lift the lid, you need to add 20 minutes cooking time.

2. Vegetables and potatoes take longer to cook in a crockpot. It’s always suggested that you place potatoes and vegetables on the bottom, layering the meat and sauces on the top.

3. Regular milk can curdle in the crockpot due to long cooking times. Consider using either canned milk, or adding the milk during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Since you’ll be lifting the lid, add a bit of cooking time to the recipe directions.

4. For recipes that call for ground beef, brown the meat before adding it to the crockpot. It will have a better texture. To confirm you discard all of the grease, pour the meat through a strainer first. Of course making a meat loaf would be the exception to this rule.

5. Trim as much fat off of meats and chicken as you can. Due to long cooking times, the fat melts right into the sauces and adds a bitter taste to the finished product. If cooking poultry remove the skin to avoid the melting fat.

6. Make sure to defrost all meats and poultry prior to putting them in the crockpot. Cooking times are based on defrosted meats.

7. Very little liquid boils away in a crockpot. You can thicken your sauce by removing the cover during the last 30 minutes of cooking. If you still find the sauce is too thin, pour the sauce into a sauce pan and add a bit of cornstarch.

8. Make sure your crockpot is filled at least half way. This prevents both undercooking and over cooking. Do not overfill the crockpot, remembering that very little liquid boils out.

9. Spray your crockpot with non stick cooking spray before adding the ingredients. This will help prevent sticking.

10. If you are using less expensive cuts of meat, consider cooking them in the crockpot as the longer cooking times help make even the toughest pull apart tender.

Enjoy the many recipes you can find for your crockpot. By following the above tips, your recipes should come out wonderfully.

Audrey :)

Bread

This was sent to me today and I just had to share it. How incredibly clever.

Audrey :)

Pizza Casserole

I love pizza and I really enjoy making casseroles. This recipe combines the two.

Pizza Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup onion
1 - 15 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup bisquick
8 ounces mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt

Brown ground beef and drain. Pour meat into casserole dish. Add onion and spaghetti sauce. In a seperate bolw add egg, milk, oil and Bisquick. Mix well. Pour mixture over ground beef. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Bisquick mix should be brown. Add cheesese on top and bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Audrey :)