At Home My Way

One of my most favorite blogs is www.joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com .  She always makes lots of "real" food and always cooks in a healthy way.  She inspires me when I can think of nothing to cook! I tried one of her recipes this week as I made Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki!  It was a huge success!  It was not sweet at all and made a great "take out chinese food" meal at home.  I think you could sweeten it up by increasing the honey but we liked it just like it turned out.  The sauce was rich and thick, thanks to the corn starch, and we loved it! SnoWhite at Finding Joy in my Kitchen used only chicken legs when she made this dish.  Some of the members of my family prefer only white meat so I used both legs and boneless, skinless chicken tenders that you buy in the bag frozen.  Since they were tenders, I didn't thaw them first but if you are using a large piece of meat, you should start with thawed meat.  The legs, however, WERE thawed ...

Crockpot Lasagna Made with Uncooked Pasta! I LOVE meals that I can throw together in the morning and have ready pretty much as soon as I open my front door!  I've discovered that some crockpot meals are more of a "finished product" with less added cooking to get the meal ready and this is one of those meals.  My daughter suggested we try this method - making lasagna with jarred sauce, cheese, and uncooked pasta!  We really didn't know how this would turn out.  But it was fabulous!  Perfect!  We loved it!  Definitely we will be making it all the time. Here's how I made Crockpot Lasana Made with Uncooked Pasta AT HOME MY WAY: Crockpot Lasagna with Uncooked Pasta 1 large jar of your favorite pasta sauce (or 3-4 cups of your favorite homemade sauce) 1/2 of this jar - water Ground beef/italian sausage, whatever you like (I used about 1 pound of burger) Lasagna pasta (uncooked) Salt Cheese (we usually only use mozzer...

Crockpot Pepper Steak Cooked with Brown Rice I'm always on the lookout for recipes that are FAST to put together and FASTER to have on the table!   I don't have much time to get stuff ready for supper before I leave for work and since we get home at 6PM, I definitely prefer having something all ready to go in the crockpot.  This was it!  My mom always made a dish that she called "Pepper Steak" in the crockpot when I was growing up.  It was delicious.  She made it with round steak, peppers, canned tomatoes and canned mushrooms.  It was one of the meals I most requested when I was growing up.  I had almost forgotten about it when my mom mentioned that she made it the other night.  She always served it ladled over cooked, long-grain white rice!  Which I love, but I don't care for minute rice and I definitely don't want to wait the 20 minutes it takes the rice to cook - to get dinner on the table (if I don't have...

Hello!  I haven't posted anything in SO LONG!  So sorry... life just happens sometimes.  But I made something for supper this week that definitely bears posting!  I made tacos for supper (I know this isn't anything special), but we all like different kinds of tacos.  I like taco salads.  My daughter likes hers baked (meat and cheese in the crunchy shells baked until all melty-she tells me they are just like Jack in the Box tacos), and her boyfriend likes soft tacos.  We were all happy because I cooked the taco meat and then had all the fixings for however we wanted to assemble them so we all got just what we wanted with very little effort! A little background on the tortilla bowls, .... I was watching TV the other night and saw one of those crazy commercials that has the fast talking salesman on there, selling this mold for making your own taco salad tortilla bowl.  Well, who really needs one of those things?  I just took a baking pan, t...

Hello!   I’m back. Hurray!   This week I’ve received some comments to former posts which made me realize how long it’s been since I’ve posted anything.      Recently I took a new job and that brought lots of sheer exhaustion to my day.   I worked at school for five years which allowed me to be off at 3:00, and then worked for a law firm 8-4 for about four years.   Cutbacks forced me to be laid off at my most recent position which left me landing a very exciting position as a paralegal.   The only problem?   I work 8-5.   I haven’t worked until 5 for years and years.   And since my husband and I commute together, the trip across town to pick him up sometimes takes 30 minutes by itself.   You wouldn’t think an extra 30 minutes tacked on to your day would wear you out but that coupled with leaving early to get us both to work on time has left me exhausted, mentally and physically.   My new job is exciting but taxing and ...

My mother-in-law makes this delicious creamy one-cup fruit salad with canned fruit, sour cream, and marshmallows.  Its one of my favorites, but I saw on another blog ( Frugal Granola ) that she was making a similar salad using yogurt.  Recently I bought some vanilla yogurt and its just not "dense" enough for me so it was just hanging out in the fridge.  I took Michelle's basic idea and just dumped!  Its so delicious!  I think I will try adding vanilla yogurt when I make Waldorf salad as well.  But for now, this is the how I made Creamy Tropical Fruit Salad AT HOME MY WAY.  I think its a great and healthier alternative to using sour cream or cool whip as some fruit salads do.  (And, FOR THE RECORD, you do not taste yogurt.  My daughter doesn't really care for yogurt and she gobble this up!) Creamy Tropical Fruit Salad One can (drained) crushed pineapple One large can (drained) mandarine oranges 1 single serving container of vanill...

Coconut Pecan Baked Oatmeal Here is another version of Baked Oatmeal.  I've tried adding apples, blueberries, chocolate chips , pineapple, and now coconut.  So far I haven't met a baked oatmeal that I don't love!  The coconut pecan was a terrific combination.  Its also great leftover.  I can bake a big pan and eat on it all week and is a great way to avoid poptarts, frozen waffles and boxed cereal.   Here's how I made Coconut Pecan Baked Oatmeal AT HOME MY WAY: COCONUT PECAN BAKED OATMEAL   3 cups old fashioned oats  1 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 2 eggs (slightly beaten) (just whites works fine or egg beaters) ½ cup margarine/butter or oil 2 teaspoons vanilla  2 cups shredded coconut (I used sweetened coconut) 1 cup pecans, chopped or lay on top before baking. Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking ...