What's Cookin' Wednesday'? Lazy Girl Edition

How's it going lovely friends? If you haven't noticed, I've revamped What's Cookin' Good Lookin' a bit. I have a new title and a brand spankin' new button that I made (Thanks Ms. Meg for teaching me how!) I hope you are cooking something great up this week- I sure am... well kinda! 

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What's Cookin' Wednesday is my newly developed blog hop that mixes two of my favorite things: Cooking and gaining new followers. I get so tired of making the same recipes over and over again and I am looking to you, bloggy friends, to help spice up my kitchen. Here's how it works:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join
 

2) Blog about what's for dinner in your house or share an old post with a recipe that you love!

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe (with the title of your blog) and you're ready to go!

5) Every Sunday night I will (try to) make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.
(entries must be in by 12:00pm on Saturday)

Here's what I "cooked" up tonight...

Banana Fluffernutter (BFN)

via

I understand that a BFN is not exactly cooking, but we're looking for delicious recipes right? No one ever set the rule that you have to use an oven, microwave, stove etc. for it to count. Don't judge me. If you've never tried a BFN, you really have no idea what you're missing. Please hop on the bandwagon now. 

Here's what you need...

Peanut butter (I prefer creamy)
Marshmallow Fluff
1/2 banana
2 pieces of bread to your liking (We use honey wheat).

Here's what you do...


1. Smear your desired amount of PB on one side of the bread
2. Smear your desired amount of Fluff on the other
3. Slice the banana fairly thin and put pieces on sandwich
4. Close sandwich and cut (I prefer diagonal :)
5. Eat, and wonder how you've lived this long without a BFN.

Do you have any favorite lazy yet delicious meals? I'd love to hear them! Can't wait to see what you're cooking up this week!

PS- Please grab my button if you participate to try and bring new friends. Let's make this recipe swap grow!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' is my attempt at a blog recipe exchange. I get tired of making the same things over and over again, and am looking to my blog friends to help spice up my life...in the kitchen. So please participate in this recipe exchange in return for some great recipes and new followers!

Here's how to join:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join

You can follow by clicking on the "follow" button over there ------>
 

2) Blog about what's cooking in your house tonight or share an old post with a recipe that you love!

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe (with the title of your blog) and you're ready to go!

5) Every Sunday night I will make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.
(entries must be in by 12:00pm on Saturday)

***For extra super cool bonus points, please put a link to What's Cookin' Good Lookin' in your blog post to help get more bloggers and recipes to join! Our kitchen's are about to get a lot more fun!***

*** If you try a recipe, please comment and let us know how it was *** 

And now...my contribution

OK, you've got me! With the bathroom renovation, there will be no cooking in our home tonight, however, I am going to share my world famous (at least in our house) crock pot, pot roast recipe. It is delicious, so easy, and guaranteed to knock your socks off. 

Trish's (moms) World Famous Pot Roast 

(serves 6ish)

Ingredients:

3-4 lb rump roast

2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 package of lipton onion soup mix

2 bay leaves (optional)

1 bag of wide egg noodles

How to:

1. Trim fat off rump roast

2. Put roast in crock pot and pour soup on top, then put onion soup mix on top of that, and then bay leaves. Don't add water!

3. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or until soft enough to slice

4. Remove roast from crockpot and slice meat (remove bay leaves)

5. Return to crock pot and cook another 3-4 hours or until meat is tender and falling apart

6. Serve over egg noodles and enjoy

This is my absolute favorite meal of all time and is so easy, even my hubs can make it successfully! Enjoy!

Can't wait to see what you're cooking up this week!

Biggie says so

I have a hot date tonight (with a girlfriend) so I don't have time to post, but I'm throwing out my friendly reminder to please participate in What's Cookin' Good Lookin'? The hubs finally comes home this weekend so I need your delicious recipes to feed my poor guy who hasn't had a home cooked meal in a month. He's even tried to cook for himself...shudder. If that doesn't make you want to participate, I don't know what else would.

And in the words of Biggie Smalls (have I told you about my obsession with 90's rap?) "tell your friends, to get with my friends, and we can be friends." AKA, please tell you friends to come play along and leave a recipe!

via

Thanks all and have a fabulous friday!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'? Chanukah edition

It's that time of week again, my friends. Time to get cooking!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' is my attempt at a blog recipe exchange. I get tired of making the same things over and over again, and am looking to my blog friends to help spice up my life...in the kitchen. So please participate in this recipe exchange in return for some great recipes!

Here's how to join:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join

You can follow by clicking on the "follow" button over there ------>
 

2) Blog about what's for dinner in your house or share an old post with a recipe that you love!

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe (with the title of your blog) and you're ready to go!

5) Every Sunday night I will make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.
(entries must be in by 12:00pm on Saturday)

***For extra super cool bonus points, please put a link to What's Cookin' Good Lookin' in your blog post to help get more bloggers and recipes to join! Our kitchen's are about to get a lot more fun!***


*** If you try a recipe, please comment and let us know how it was ***

Now for this week's contribution:

Since tonight is the first night of Chanukah, I would usually make potato latkes. These fried lovelies stink up a house, are time consuming to make, and fill out a waistline but are worth every fried bite. They are so delicious and a one time of year indulgence. Since I'm sick and the hubs is away, latkes will have to wait until he gets home, but you lucky ducks can have my super easy and delicious recipe.

Happy Chanukah Latkes

(feeds about 4 people as a side dish)

Ingredients:

3 large yukon gold potatoes

1 large onion

1 egg

flour

salt

pepper

oil

applesauce (optional)

sour cream (optional)

How to:

1. Clean and peel potatoes

2. Using a food processor, shredd potatoes and onions. There should be an even ratio of potato to onion, or slightly less onion.

3. Mix potatoes and onions with egg and a little bit of flour until the mixture holds together. 

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste

5. Heat oil in an electric frying pan. Do not splatter or overheat!

6. Add small scoops of potato mixture to oil and fry until you get desired temperature. (I prefer less cooked latkes, while many love them crispy!)

7. Remove from oil and blot with paper towels.

8. Serve hot with apple sauce or sour cream.

9. Enjoy!

Now it's your turn. What are you cooking up this week?

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

It's that time of week again, my friends. Time to get cooking!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' is my attempt at a blog recipe exchange. I get tired of making the same things over and over again, and am looking to my blog friends to help spice up my life...in the kitchen. So please participate in this recipe exchange in return for some great recipes!

Here's how to join:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join

You can follow by clicking on the "follow" button over there ------>
 

2) Blog about what's for dinner in your house or share an old post with a recipe that you love!

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe (with the title of your blog) and you're ready to go!

5) Every Sunday night I will make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.
(entries must be in by 12:00pm on Saturday)

***For extra super cool bonus points, please put a link to What's Cookin' Good Lookin' in your blog post to help get more bloggers and recipes to join! Our kitchen's are about to get a lot more fun!***

*** If you try a recipe, please comment and let us know how it was ***

Now for this week's contribution.

Since it's Thanksgiving tomorrow, I'm getting my cranberry sauce ready to bring to a friend's house. Cranberry sauce is often overlooked, but with this recipe, your turkey may have some competition!

Orange Cranberry Sauce

(makes three cups) 

 via

• 1 1/2 cups orange marmalade
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 12 ounces fresh cranberries 
• 1/4 cup sugar (if you like it sweeter than tart) 

1. Mix marmalade, juice and cinnamon stick in a saucepan, bring to boil.
2. Add cranberries, return to boil.
3. Simmer and cook until cranberries pop and thicken, about 8-10 minutes.
4. Add sugar (if you're going the sweet route) and remove from heat, cool.

Enjoy! Can't wait to see what you're all cooking up this week. Please spread the word to your friends so we all can get some yummy new recipes (and followers). 

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' Review: Jayme's Perfect Chili

I was excited by the amount of participation in our recipe swap this week (Thank you, Adrian, Missy, and Lindsey!) and am hoping for even more next week! Tell your friends to come join in on the fun!
It was hard to decide which recipe to cook and review because they all sounded so great but I'm a chili fan and I could not resist trying Jayme's recipe.

I make chili often and this is my go to recipe. I love it's sweet and spicy kick and that it's jam packed with veggies. The nice thing about chili is that there are so many variations and I really love that Jayme's chili sounds so very different than mine. It's nice to switch things up, hence this recipe swap!

Here's how it went:

I followed Jayme's recipe very closely but did make three adjustments to suit my tastes.

1. I used ground turkey instead of beef (personal preference)
2. I omitted beans and replaced with corn (I'm not a bean fan)

3. I added some orange peppers along with onion (love me some veggies)

After a dash of Budweiser and a big splash of Tiger Sauce (my favorite hot sauce ever) I allowed the recipe to simmer for 30 minutes as directed.

 Here is my final result:

My review: I think the recipe was thrown off a bit because it lacked beans but it was still really good chili. I loved how I could really taste the meat and different veggies. This makes a thick chili that is not soupy at all and I think the hubs will love it. I prefer my chili a little sweeter than this recipe, but I would (and will!) definitely make this again.

Thanks so much for the recipe, Jayme! Can't wait to see what you all come up with next week.

Did anyone else try a recipe in our swap? I'd love to hear your experiences.

Don't forget to enter in my first give away! is open until Wednesday! Enter to win an awesome print from Font Supply!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' - let's try this again!

With a few more readers than the last time I tried this, I want to give What's Cookin' Good Lookin' another chance!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' is my attempt at a blog recipe exchange. I get tired of making the same things over and over again, and am looking to my blog friends to help spice up my life...in the kitchen. So please participate in this recipe exchange in return for some great recipes!

Here's how to join:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join

You can follow by clicking on the "follow" button over there ------>
 

2) Blog about what's for dinner in your house or share an old post with a recipe that you love!

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe and you're ready to go!

5) Every Sunday night I will make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.
(entries must be in by 12:00pm on Saturday)

***For extra super cool bonus points, put a link to What's Cookin' Good Lookin' in your blog post to help get more bloggers and recipes to join! Our kitchen's are about to get a lot more fun!***

Here's my entry, and oldie but goodie and the hub's favorite meal!

Spinach Tortellini Bake

 Serves 4 (or 2 really hungry people- don't judge)

• 1 lb cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 (or more if you're like me) garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups fat free half and half
• 1 bag of baby spinach (I use organic, not that it matters)
• ground black pepper
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese or to your liking
• crushed spicy red pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the broiler.
2.  Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil. Once boiling, cook the pasta according to package.
3. While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium heat with the butter. Cook the garlic in the butter until aromatic, about 1 minute, then sprinkle the flour into the butter and cook for another minute while stirring. Allow to thicken
4. Whisk the half and half into the mixture and add parmesan little by little. Stir until mixed and add red pepper if desired. Allow to thicken.
5. Add spinach. Cook until wilted
6. Once sauce is thickened and tastes to your liking, add the tortellini. Coat the tortellini in sauce and mix it all up.
7. Transfer everything to a large casserole dish and sprinkle with additonal parmesan and pepper if desired.
8. Place under the broiler to brown, about a minute.

Enjoy!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' (Take 2)

It's Tuesday again and I'm taking another stab at What's Cookin' Good Lookin'. Want to get some great, new, and delicious recipes to make during the week? Want to help me and hubs save money by not going out to dinner too dang much (please)? Well, look no further. Here's how to share your recipe:

1) Must be a "This Life of Ours" follower to join

 
You can follow by clicking on the "follow" button over there ------>
 

2) Blog about what's for dinner in your house.

3) Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post and click on the link to enter.

4) Post your recipe and you're ready to go!

5) Every Thursday night I will make one of the entered recipes and blog about it.

***For extra super cool bonus points, put a link to What's Cookin' Good Lookin' in your blog post to help get more bloggers and recipes to join! Dinner's about to get a lot more fun!***

Here's what cooking at our house tonight:

Easy Cottage Cheese, Crab Quiche

This is one of my favorite recipes to make during the week because it's delicious, healthy, light, and as easy as pie quiche to make. You can really vary what you put in the quiche (let me know if you have a good combo!) I love me some options!

Here's what you need to make it my way:

20 oz cottage cheese

3/4 cupish roasted red peppers chopped

3/4 cupish broccoli chopped

1/3 cupish grated cheese (I use cheddar)

1/3 cupish bread crumbs

4 eggs (2 whole, 2 whites)

1/2 cupish Louis Kemp imitation crab, chopped

To make quiche:

1. Preset oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix all ingredients

3. Pour into 9inch pie pan
4. Bake for 45 minutes

5. Enjoy and serve with your choice of side (I like fruit or steamed veggies)

**tip- to catch any overflow, I always put the pie pan on a cookie sheet while it bakes**

That's what's on the menu for us tonight. How about you?

What's Cookin' Good Lookin' Recipe Number 1

After an overwhelming numbers of entries in my What's Cookin' Good Lookin'? idea (hey, Rome wasn't built in a day), I was excited to try a new recipe that was posted by Nikki at The Fashionable Wife. The hubs was even more excited because it involved pasta, something I don't cook often!

Nikki's recipe was for a super simple pasta dish with spinach and cottage cheese. Since I l.o.v.e cottage cheese, this recipe was right up my alley. It was so quick and easy to make and was also fairly healthy- more perks!

Here is the recipe as prepared by me:

PS- this is the plate that was made during my girl's night out- came out kinda cute!

After the quick and easy preparation, my final verdict on Nikki's recipe was that it was definitely De-licious! I loved the texture of the cottage cheese with the pasta. I made a couple of minor tweeks to the recipe (don't be mad, Nikki!). Instead of one garlic clove, I used five. Yes, five- I love me some garlic. There will be no vampires lurking around these parts. Unless it's Edward Cullen. He can lurk. For a little bit of color, I garnished the pasta with some fresh chopped tomato. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will probably add some more tomato and cook it in the pan with the spinach mixture. Thanks Nikki for the recipe and for saving me some moolah from going out to dinner!

Hope to see more recipes next Tuesday- dinner during the week is getting much more fun!

Introducing...What's Cookin; Good Lookin'?

Yesterday I posted about our horrendous habit of eating out way too much. In my goal to save money and venture out of my repetitious menu, I've come up with, "What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?" Here, I will post what I'm cooking tonight. If you can post about a favorite recipe by Thursday, and link it to the handy dandy link at the bottom of this post, well...dinner will just get a lot more fun :) Every week, I will choose one recipe to cook, take some pics, and let you know how it is. For extra bonus points, comment on this post and let me know if you've tried one of the recipes and how it was.
                                                                         Sounds like fun, right? Let's try it!

Tonight I am cooking Taco Salad. I literally make this every week but it gets the hubs to eat salad, it's healthy, easy, and delicious. Here's the low down:

Trish's Taco Salad

Ingredients:

photo from myrecipes.com

Old El Paso taco seasoning (I use hot and spicy)
1lb ground chicken (or turkey)
1 tomato cut into wedges
2 heads romaine lettuce chopped
1/2 pepper cut into thing slices
1/4 red onion cut into slices
1/4 cup corn
salsa
sour cream
shredded cheese
baked tortilla chips
(note: all salad ingredients and condiments are optional)



                                    How to:

1. Cook chicken and taco seasoning as according to package
2. While meat cooks, assemble salad
3. After meet is ready, put on top of salad
4. Add sour cream, cheese, and salsa if desired
5. garnish with tortilla chips and enjoy!!!

So...what's for dinner at your house?