Salad

Layered Green Salad Recipe: (Makes 8-10 servings) Ingredients: Salad: 1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped 2 cups baby spinach Salt and pepper, to taste 10 whole hard boiled eggs, chopped 1 (12 ounce) package bacon, cooked and chopped 4 tomatoes, chopped 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated 1 (10 ounce) bag frozen peas, thawed Dressing: 1/2 cup real mayonnaise 1/2 cup sour cream 2 Tablespoons sugar Directions: In a large glass bowl, layer salad ingredients in order listed above. Combine dressing ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk together until combined. Pour over the top of the peas and spread to cover. Cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours

Last Night's Supper

Yesterday was spent food shopping and reorganizing the kitchen so supper needed to be easy and quick so I tried these Baked Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos from Six Sister's Stuff, I had never made these before but this was 1 of the new recipes I was going to try. I will put out from the side my tips on this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened 

12 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled ( I used turkey bacon)

4 cups cooked, shredded chicken (I just used the grilled chicken you can get in the lunch meat section of the grocery store, it is fully cooked and sliced already)

1 (1 oz) packet dry Ranch Dressing mix (I only used 1/2 of this packet)

2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded ( I actually used Four Cheese Mexican Shredded Cheese)

3-4 Tablespoons green onion, chopped ( I did not use green onion)

20 (6-inch) flour tortillas

Salt ( I used Sea Salt to sprinkle on top)

Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cover a large baking sheet (I use a cookie sheet) with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Mix together cream cheese, chicken, bacon, cheese, and green onions. Add in about 1/2 of the dry Ranch dressing mix and taste- add more if you want more of a Ranch taste. Mix well. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons ( I actually used more and didn't make as many as the 20 I made 10) of the chicken mixture into a flour tortilla and roll it up.

Place taquito seam-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat about 20 time. Once finished, spray the tops of the taquitos with non-stick cooking spray (or you could lightly brush some olive oil on them) and sprinkle with salt (I like to use sea salt).

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (or until edges and tops are golden). Let cool for a couple of minutes. Serve with Ranch dressing or Blue Cheese Dressing for dipping. (The lady that made this recipe. her  husband also likes to dip them in "Salsa Ranch"- just mix equal parts salsa and Ranch dressing together and that's what I did.)

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/03/baked-chicken-bacon-ranch-taquitos.html

I wish I would of taken a picture of the finished product but forgot and there was no leftovers. My family loved this recipe and this will be added to our weekly menu. I also made a new bread recipe last night called Red Bread. 

This recipe  came from the 

Teen Cuisine book by Matthew Locricchio. 

2 garlic gloves- 2 ripe tomatoes- basil leaves- French Bread (baguette)- 1/3 cup olive oil- Sea Salt- Black Pepper

Crush the garlic to break open the skin remove skin, cut off root and discard.

Chop of bite sized tomatoes- Lay bread on baking sheet and toast under broiler for 2 minutes- remove slices and rub one side with the garlic clove- Top each slice with tomato and basil leaves then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. This can be served warm or cold.

We also loved this bread and it is super fast to make. 

Grocery Shopping

So I hate going shopping for groceries, seems the bill always gets higher and we never have enough meals to last till next payday. Being military I only shop for groceries twice a month so I usually shop for two weeks at a time. After the first of the year I decided to start doing a menu for each night and on the weekends. So this payday I needed meals for 14 nights we are a family of 6 with 4 of those eating like adults since we do have the 2 teenagers. Kayleigh packs her lunch for school so I needed all of her snacks and juice and I make her either peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese sandwiches every day. The oldest 2 refuse to eat at school or pack a lunch ( Autum honestly doesn't have a lunch period as she is maxing out her credits at school) anyways so when they both come home they raid the refrigerator and cabinets. My shopping also includes diapers,wipes,and any kitchen and cleaning products I may need along with the typical razors and womanly things lol so just not food. I do shop at our Commissary and go first thing in the morning with my coupons (which usually are not that many). So yesterday my bill came to $334.32 I had 27 coupons which gave me a savings of $21.35 so my total was $317.97. We do not get taxed at the Commissary but they have what is a surcharge which was $15.92 so my total in food minus coupons and surcharge was $297.05. I bought 170 items. This weekend I am hosting a SodaStream and Super Bowl Party so I did get a few extra things that I normally would not of. Next I will post some recipes we have been trying out each week I try to introduce a couple new recipes for my family.

Ringal Hanging out

Ringal hanging out in our living room, he is such a Character

Ringals Mess

We woke up to a mess on our table Ringal got into the flour last night and was trying to make snow angels. Ringal was also missing the North Pole the other day when we found him in our freezer :)

Ringal and his after dark games

We woke up to Ringal hanging from the banisters in our living room looks like her got into some presents last night. This Slinky is for my Nephew Easton I think Ringal had other ideas for it. This has been Kayleigh's fave she even asked him this morning to do this when Daddy came back so he could see :)

Candy Cane Planting Kit

Ringal left this for the kiddos going to be so fun doing this. The seeds are peppermints the fertilizer is sprinkles and the magic dirt is yeast and seasonings. Hopefully this will grow the Candy Canes but only if they are good.