I am so focused on packing that I forgot to post, forgot about my mom’s group today, forgot to go to the post office first thing…
I even had a schedule planned…
Oh well. Sorry. Tomorrow I will!!
Tag Archives: Joureny
Journey With Cookbooks #16
Cheesy Ground Beef Quesadilla!
I wish I could find a cookbook that is only ground beef recipes…
This recipe says it takes 45min…🤨 another easy dinner!! A mom’s happy plan.
When I initially brought the beef up, I thought I had already put it in water. But alas no, I did not. So now I have to wait the 30min.
Unless I am trying a new recipe I don’t listen to my iTunes. I usually just roll with my Spotify playlist. Mostly because I used to listen to wide range of music and I would rather Elizabeth’s first words be from an bad song.
Fears of a mama.
Back to cooking.
I forgot to take a picture of cooking the beef, but let’s be honest…you know what it looks like. It looks the same as always. And this is me draining the fat off.
And my foot down in the left bottom corner…
Sorry. I am a little goofy today as I write this recipe up. No, my foot is not included into the food.
This recipe does not have pictures with the steps. Hopefully this is right…
Warming up the cast iron skillet. I like how the tortilla crisps. The meat mixture looks okay now.
I had to skip various songs. Some were too random for my brain. Also some had some colorful words.
I added the green onions. It was not in the list of ingredients, but green onions always add more delicious flavors.
Interesting mix.
Of course the night I choose to make a quesadilla, is the day when we are out of salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. 😞 it was still delicious but I was bummed about the lack of extras.
But to the scoring.
Look Like Picture: 9. Mostly because I used the cheese I had. It was the cheddar jack mix from Costco. Not really the right taste, but still worked.
Taste: 9. I think it worked. But I think it would better with some diced green chilies mixed in. I’ve been in a spicy mood. The hubby liked it. He gave it an 8, just because he wasn’t very hungry to begin with.
Easiness: 10! It was easy. Another easy peasy recipe for a baby brained mama. Meaning… “dumb moments”. I have those days occasionally often. 😂
Hope you enjoyed the post. But also my music playlist.
Journey With Cookbooks #15
New recipe…
Creamy Ground Beef Pasta!!
Another google ground beef recipe. We still have a lot of ground beef to go. My mother can attest to it; she has seen the goods. 🤩
I was given anniversary flowers/ Mother’s Day flowers. The hubby did good!
Back to the food…
Defrosting the beef…again imagine some calming music… Instead I had…
Browning the beef and cooking the curly-cue noodles!!
I tasted a few noodles just to make sure they were not poisonous. Not that I love noodles, but for the safety of my family 🤨
This recipe was not really what I expected. I grabbed the tomato sauce, but it didn’t really register in my mind. I thought this recipe was more of a cheesy Alfredo pasta…
I have gotten into the habit of trying to wash the dishes often throughout the day. Because then when it’s dinner time, all I have to do is dinner dishes. So I am probably in the kitchen, at the sink, about 70% of my day…
How could it be bad…? Three awesome ingredients will be added to meat. It already is delicious!
See how the google picture is so vibrant while mine is kind of boring. Probably because of the cheese type.
But it still tastes good. Yes. I tried it.
Have to have my healthy food… SALAD!! We also had some leftover Hawaiian rolls. It seems like I added a salad just for the refreshing green color. 😂
Overall another easy recipe. Especially since I got the ingredients measured out beforehand and I was able to just add as I needed. In total, it was only about 30min to make.
Look like picture: 6. The noodles are the same but the consistency and color are quite different. But I give it a 6 because compared to the photo only the color is different.
Taste: 8! A solid 8. Mostly because it was not what I expected. So my brain was a little shocked. Whereas the hubby and daughter loved it!! If you try this, there is a distinct tomato taste. Almost like a creamy tomato soup pasta. With meat. Can’t forget the meat!
Easiness: 10! Another easy, chill, calm recipe for a mom who is frazzled. I wasn’t frazzled today, but on a day where I am I will probably make this again.
So to sum this recipe up. Not what I expected. Still good however. And the family approved. So I’ll be adding it to my cookbook.
Thinking…I might make a secondary google inspired cookbook called: The Frazzled Mama. Then when I am uninspired to cook; I can find an easy recipe! 🤔 I like this plan!!
Enjoy!
Journey With Cookbooks #14
Today’s recipe was bagels…
It was from ‘Crusts: The Ultimate Baker’s Book’
I was in the mood to try something new. And let’s be honest bagels are awesome!!
So I forgot to take pictures of the dough…but I used the mixer of awesomeness!!! It sadly did not like the dough though…
Our mixer is only four years old. It shouldn’t be dying.
So it actually looks okay.
I’ll layout the process I’ve already done. -mix dough in mixer until ball is formed.
-roll the ball of dough on a cutting board with a light dusting of flour.
-divide ball into 12 pieces. (I miscounted and cut 14)🤪
-roll into hotdog shapes and form bagels.
-put a light dusting of cornmeal on pan and place bagels on top. Let the bagels chill in fridge overnight.
-… imagine the corny elevator music…
-next let bagels sit in room temp for 2 hours to let puff up.
Now the next picture!
I didn’t realize you have to put them in boiling water for about 1 min. It makes sense, but when they came out of the water they looked really bumpy and were super slippery. I dropped them upside down a few times!
Speaking of bumpy. It reminded me of a toy we had in my childhood. I don’t remember the name but it was a figurine that had stretchy limbs…so you could make him punch himself. But his skin was similar to the bumpiness. Strange… back on topic…
I should say, at this moment I was worried. I was worried it was going to be another failure. Normally I don’t worry but when you put days into something you really hope it works well. But to stay positive…if they come out hard as rocks, like the first time I made biscuits, I will just take them outside and have a bagel fight with Elizabeth!
Now relax! 🙂 they came out better than I expected!!
Awesomeness!! They are a little crispy on the bottom but they are still soft enough to eat!!
If I keep this up I will never buy anything ever again. Which saves money and I gain experience. A win win. The hubby will be happy. So an extra win!
I love just plain bagels. They are delicious to me!!
Elizabeth took a bite of daddy’s and made the best disgusted face. It was priceless. Almost like her gramma experiencing lobster. So she proceeded to steal mine. At least I have 12 others to choose from.
Look like photo: 9. Just because I think I need to cook it less time. Meaning I will be trying again.
Taste: 9. Again just because I need to adjust my cooking time. By 5min? We will see.
Easiness: 7. It wasn’t too hard but just since it was a two day process you have to make sure to have space in your fridge. That might have been the hardest part, rearranging the fridge. 😂
Well enjoy your Tuesday!! Maybe have a bagel! 🥯
My Followers
I’m sorry about today. I think because of lack of sleep, is the cause for my painful headache. I will be taking a day.
Thank you all for staying updated on my blog. Knowing people are reading my post gives me a boost of enthusiasm every day. 😊
Journey With Cookbooks #13
Mwahahahaha!
I have to admit. It is difficult to stay within just three cookbooks. There are only so many ground beef recipes…and we have a lot of ground beefs to go. So I turned to google again.
So I guess I renounce my statement of number of cookbooks. But I will be continuing to share my cooking stories. Let’s begin.
The longest part was defrosting the beef. I always forget hat it takes almost 30min to defrost.
Next I was to add all the other ingredients and let simmer. But I forgot to take a picture. But it was garlic, soy sauce, ginger powder, beef broth, various spices, and a whole cup of brown sugar…😳 but I realized why that much sugar later on…
The next step was to add watered cornstarch. I don’t use cornstarch. For no other reason than I never have any and I always forget to buy some. So instead you double the amount and use flour.
I’ve decided to listen through my iTunes music….it’s all the music I bought when I was a teenager…so most of it will probably be weird now…but maybe a few gems. Maybe…
As the meat is simmering for 8min you should also be cooking the noddles. It even suggested the spaghetti noodles. It was not a random decision. 🤓
Hopefully it is good. It smells devine!
Finished!!
….Wow! It is delicious. Even the hubby said he thinks this is his new favorite ground beef noodle recipe. Mine too. I wish I could post the video of Elizabeth eating it….it is definitely her favorite too!
So…
Look Like Picture: Maybe an 8. Just because it looks like they used a different option on the noodles. The more authentic version. We might have to get some next time.
Taste: 10! 100% 10!!
Easiness: 10! Another put it all together and then enjoy! I sent this recipe to my family. It is definitely a dish my brothers and nephews would love.
Also…
The hubby made his chocolate chip cookies earlier so we already have dessert. It’s the normal nestle cookie recipe but somehow his cookies always come out amazing. One recipe I will not make; the hubby will always be in charge of chocolate chip cookies. And this time around he tried something new…
Nick’s friend gave us some fancy butter…if you love chocolate chip cookies, try making it with this butter….you will never be able to eat other cookies.
I’m usually good about not eating too many cookies… these ones I had 8 after dinner. I gained back all the weight I worked so hard to lose… 😩
Enjoy your night. I wish it to be filled with delicious food! But if it is filled with cookies…be strong…don’t eat too many! 🤣
Journey With Cookbooks #12
So I choose a meat first. I decided on beef…but for some reason I was having trouble finding a simple ground beef recipe that we haven’t had yet in the cookbooks…
Nothing…well that’s not completely true. I found a few in the casserole cookbook but none were sounding appetizing.
So I opted to one of my previous simple recipes…
So it says Korean…but since I didn’t have the right ingredients, when I first made it, I kind of Americanized it….so I apologize to the Koreans or foodies in the world that may cringe at some of my changes. Sorry. 😓
So first things first…defrost the beef…
This is from the cow we bought…the meat doesn’t truly taste different to me, but when I cook it, it has a nice smell to it.
Funny story about our rice cooker. My brother didn’t end up wanting this rice cooker when he went back for his second year of college…so I took it. 🤓 And it still lives!! It’s about 4 years old. When it eventually dies I will be very sad…😞
Anyways back on topic. Rice is cooking!!
Can you guess what I decided to do while I waited for the meat to cook?
It is not my blog unless doing dishes is mentioned at some point…
You know when you cook something so often that you no longer measure…that would be my green beans. Some butter, green beans, some salt, a little pepper, a lite sprinkle of garlic powder…and a five finger pinch of brown sugar. Mix it up and let it simmer until you are done with everything else…
Yeah it means one more dish…but to be honest it was the same pot I used to boil Elizabeth’s noddles for Mac n cheese…so it was already used. Another confession…I just wiped it with a paper towel after lunch…But all it had was a couple stuck noodles. 🤪
Now I’m hungry. I wasn’t really hungry when I started. But now I’m a HUNGRY THING!!
We get a sushi rice. It’s the best! Costco!!
Green onions just add that extra yum! to certain foods. I usually add them to anything hat sounds remotely good.
I’ve been trying to be better at my rice consumption. I now measure out my rice. It also makes the plate look pretty and professional…but honestly it’s just for measuring purposes.
See this was a normal cooking process before I got the cookbooks. My google inspired cookbook is huge. I gave my siblings a copy for Christmas this last year.
Even though it’s a bit simple it was delicious!!
I guess I’ll rate them since this is a recipe after all…
Looks Like Picture: 10! I do remember the picture. It always looks the same.
Taste: 10! I always love this meal. It’s a little sweet, spicy, and salty. Everything you usually crave rolled into one recipe. In case you try it…if you do not like spicy don’t add the red pepper flakes. Or maybe just half… also my hubby wanted seconds but again I said no. Just because I knew ice cream was in the near future…
Easiness: 10! It’s pretty much an add everything together and wait. Also since I use a rice cooker it makes this meal extremely easy!
Also to give you an idea of amount of beef mixture it makes… I had about a small heaped 1/2 cup. The hubby…3/4 cup?? I think. And there probably 1 cup leftover. So for two people, it’s a one dinner and one lunch kind of meal.
Hopefully this recipe made you hungry. Usually I won’t post the recipe but since this one is a recipe I tweaked to work fo me I shared it.
Have a great dinner tonight!!
Journey With Cookbooks #6
Well I felt super ambitious the other night. I decided to make the Sloppy Joe’s recipe from the, The Frontier Cookbook. I already have a recipe that I’ve always used, my sister found it. But I decided to branch out and try a new one…I also decided to make those “fluffy rolls” again!
If you can’t tell I am taking this rematch seriously…😜
So it turns out…I killed the yeast last time. I thought my thermometer worked…nope. I had the water about 60 degrees too warm. We got a meat thermometer; I was able to use it for the water, it’s digital. 😎 Well must wait two hours…
Well my plan of making half went okay…except I forgot about cutting the garlic in half…at least my hubby and I like garlic.
Don’t kill the yeast, best advice ever!…and I have to admit I didn’t wait the full 2 hrs. It was more like 1.5 hrs. Just because I wanted the rolls to be done around the same time as the Sloppy Joe’s.
Yep that’s right. I decided to be ambitious…French fries it is…but not only that, I’m going to fry them!! I normally bake them in the oven, but since the oven is being used and now I find frying interesting, let’s try it!
So because my knowledge of frying is still small I looked up a fries recipe on google. It was Chef John’s French Fries. I only referenced the temp of the oil and how long. Just because I wanted them to be plain because we already have enough salt… but also I plan to eat them with lots of ketchup!
I cut the fries a little thicker than when I baked them, because I like my fries to be crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside!!
This is the same oil from when I did the Spicy Asian Wings. So there is a little bit of flavor added because of the oil. It smells delicious!!
And this time I tasted it…as I said normally I don’t taste as I go. But I had a little nibble and it was delicious!! 😎
I try and keep the dinners somewhat healthy. Maybe I should say, I try to have one healthy thing to make it seem like we are healthy…haha.
I will say it looks delicious, but it taste way better!!
The hubby and Elizabeth are already eating. I had to finish the fries so I ate my salad first. Maybe two sloppy Joe’s is too much for me, but I’ll just exercise extra tomorrow!! I’m going to enjoy my hard work!!
Well I guess I will be saying goodbye to two recipes I’ve used for forever. “So long, my baked fries and sloppy Joe recipe. You have been great through my journey of cooking but I’ve found my perfect match.” So long!
Well, let’s start the grading!
Look like picture: 10! Except for the bun it looks the same!!
Taste: I guess through this blog post I gave my input. Maybe I was especially hungry this time…But I would also give it a 10! Definitely trying again! The hubby said, “Mmmmmm,” and “I love the fries!” Elizabeth proceeded to copy her daddy. So they would give it a 10 as well!
Easiness: The sloppy Joe’s: 10! It was super easy. Pretty much just prepare and then let simmer. The rolls: 8! I think when I’m less rushed it might even make it to a 10. The fries: 8.5. The time it takes to fry, but still have the fries hot to eat was difficult. But worth it! Baking is easier in that way…you just put in the oven 20min and can still do other things. But since I’ve tasted these French fries…never again…
So all in all a fun and delicious dinner!! It was great that I was able to be ambitious and actually accomplished my goals. I’m getting more confident in my cooking. A big thank you to my hubby’s friend who gifted us the cookbooks!! Cooking has become fun again!!
Journey With Cookbooks #5
Sadly I don’t have a new recipe to post about. Because with the Italian Meatball Soup and Tortilla Soup recipes, have lasted a long time.
Also I was correct in my statement in my previous post…my hubby got bored with soup after one day of leftovers… He had leftovers one day and wanted something new.
So I made an old recipe I had found on google. Google was my source for recipes before I got the cookbooks.
The recipe is Asian Mini Meatloafs. You make it in a muffin pan. It made a total of twenty-four mini loaves. Enough to last the hubby through his work shifts.
I finished the Italian Meatball Soup on Thursday. I’m still eating the Tortilla Soup….But I’m getting fed up with it too. 😔
I realize this post is not as much fun, but I will be making a new recipe tomorrow! I think I’m done with soup; there is about one serving left…maybe I’ll “make” my hubby’s lunch and serve him the last serving of soup today…🧐
We shall see…Well enjoy your Sunday. Enjoy your day with family or friends. ❤️
Journey With Cookbooks #4
Well the warmth left Montana, so I wanted something warm to eat!! Soup. Soup is always nice on a cold day.
Again I had to choose a recipe from my cookbooks but this one was not marked. Chicken Tortilla Soup.
Reading through the recipe this one will only take 50min cooking time and only 20min prep. So not too bad!!( in the prep time i always add extra time incase Elizabeth wants to help)
I feel like every time I’m cooking something new, the hubby has to taste it. Which I guess is good; because I don’t like to taste test as I cook…It’s just a mystery when it’s done…🙃
I think waiting is my favorite kind of cooking. I will be doing this recipe again….waiting…🤓
As I said simple recipe!! This blog seems more relaxed than previous cooking posts because it actually is. It was so easy and chill.
And the family said yum! Elizabeth actually liked the soup this time!! To me that is an accomplishment in itself.
Look like picture: 8…it actually looks similar.
Taste: 10! Hubby went for seconds!! Elizabeth ate her whole bowl; the table had some too….
Easiness: 10! Sweetest and easiest recipe! 😎
I will definitely make this recipe again!! Especially when I am in the mood to be lazy. However next time I might fidget with the recipe and make less of it. It makes 8 servings. The hubby will get bored with eating soup before it is gone…so I guess I’ll be eating soup for the next few days.
Enjoy your Wednesday. Hopefully the snow is gone for good. I’m tired of the snow….🙃
I wrote this last night. Update on weather…no snow, but everything is froze outside. 😱
emily2jane 