Just a boring post! v2.0

I totally posted this huge and boring post about how Italy is different than the states and then I realized it was way too many words and no one would read it so I'm condensing it.

Likes: 
Gelato! 
Pizza!
Shutters!  (No matter what kind of shutter, they keep ALLLLL the light out for easy all day sleeping!)
Gas stations that you can use cash to purchase your gas from... when they're closed.  :) 
The mountains.
The rail system.
Random firework displays year round. 
My new friends. <3 
The awesome gym and its free classes. 
How there are 80 different ways to get to the same place.
Traffic circles.

Dislikes:
Drivers. 
Siesta.
Gas stations that are closed ALL THE TIME.
The price of gas.
The price of everything.
Small roads.
The smell by the farms. 
Bugs.
Huge ass spiders. 
Monday being an "everything on the economy is closed" day.
The recycling. --->  If you know me, you know I've always recycled, but some of this is ridic.
No Walmart.
No Starbucks.
No 24-hour anything, except the laundry mats on base. 
The bells!!!!!  They're cool for the first 15 seconds, but by the 7th minute they get a bit ridiculous.. No, by the 2nd minute they get a bit ridiculous.

Chicken Pot Pie

Alright!  New recipe!  I'm very excited about this one, because it was brand spankin' new to me and sooooo not something I would ever think to make on my own.  Bing has been wanting chicken pot pie for a while now - you know, the frozen kind that most people think is the only way you can actually have chicken pot pie.  Growing up I probably had a handful (if that) of those frozen pot pies because my dad loved them, but my mom always said they were terrible for you.  Well, Maggie, my very awesome and creative friend, tried this homemade recipe for chicken pot pie a few weeks ago and her husband, Jake (who's a bit of a picky eater) loved it.  I figured since its homemade, it doesn't have any preservatives or any of that junk in it so it probably won't be so unhealthy.  I gave it a try tonight, and Bing liked it.  Granted, Bing will eat most things I put in front of him, but you can't go wrong with meat and veggies in a pie.  (Although his request for the next one is Sheppards Pie... We'll see about it!)
I like this recipe because its super easy and I like super easy.  

You will be using a 9 in. round cake pan

 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing (I used Robusto Italian because they only had Kraft Zesty and I don't like Kraft dressing... It worked out just fine!)
4 oz. cream cheese, also cubed for easier melting
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed 
2 refrigerated pie crusts

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Cook chicken and dressing in large skillet over medium heat for two minutes (or until cooked... You'll have a bunch of liquid in the skillet - don't drain it!)
• Mix in cream cheese, continue cooking, and stir until melted
• Add flour, mix well 
• Add broth and vegetables, simmer 5 minutes 

The recipe says to put the mixture right into the cake pan, but, like Maggie, I like a top and a bottom to my pies (and you can't really buy a single pie crust), so put one pie crust in the bottom of the pan, add mixture, and top with the other crust.

Flute the edges and cut 4 slits to let the steam escape.  Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  I do a lot of guestimating here since its really hard to tell on our oven what temperature you are using so I think my oven may not have been hot enough, and I had to leave the pie in a little longer to cook the crust the whole way through.  No biggie!

 

My first pot roast!

So I attempted my very first pot roast today!  It turned out really well. 

There are about 11 million different pot roast recipes, but I loosely used the one from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.  I saw loosely, as if I ever stick to a recipe. 

I'm going to add the recipe later in case you, like me, have no clue how to make easy peasy back home kind of meals. 

Its a new old single life for me...

I've lived on my own since I moved out of the house for college. One could argue I was on my own before then because I took care of myself and my finances, but anyway, you get the gist. I rented an apartment with Nikki in New Haven, rented a place with Jess in Hawley, and then Bing and I rented an apartment together before he left for basic training, but I lived totally alone for the 5 1/2 months that he was gone. I've always been a scaredy pants - you can ask my mom. Even if I was walking through my parent's house (that I lived in full time from 5-18) I would turn every light on in the place at night time. I have a hugely overactive imagination and it really gets away from me sometimes. Anyway, in our tiny little apartment in Hawley, tucked away on the side of a house where you couldn't even see our front door (ie you couldn't really tell we lived there) I still made sure that door was locked every night and I even locked the bedroom door, and slept with a softball bat next to the bed. I felt really safe there, and actually didn't need to lock any of the doors if you want to be perfectly honest.


Now I'm in this brand spankin' new COUNTRY, where people are loud and everything echos so any sound seems like its right outside the door, and my husband gets put on mids. Mid shift works from 11pm-7am. This shift suuuuuucks for many reasons. A) I have to sleep alone. Hello insomnia! I'm too scared to go to sleep so I stay awake all night until I can't take it anymore. And right now its 12:33 am and I am exhausted but won't go to bed for probably another hour or two. B) Bing sleeps all day. C) I want to reverse my schedule to sleep when he does, but then I miss out on my entire life (working out, ACES, the girls) D) We have a 1 car garage, with a garage on either side of us... We have to move cars around in order to function. I have to wake Bing up to move his car in order for me to be able to go anywhere during the day.
Anywho, the point of the story IS... mids is the worst shift ever. Lindsay told me I'd never see Bing and she was right.

I think I'm going to go set up my safety devices, and go lay down. I'm re-reading Harry Potter now so let's see how far I get this evening.

Also, I totally apologize for this post. There's a bit of complaining in it, and this blog isn't for that. I guess its part of my new way of life.

Try my recipes!

Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole

I borrowed the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book from the library last week.  Granted, I know most kitchens come with it but I'm putting this recipe on here for you to see... Maybe you've skipped over it before. 

I do not tend to like seafood, but tuna is one of the things I like.  I've always loved tuna noodle casserole, and since Bing loves cheese, this works out lovely.  I was a little worried using the cheese, but it turned our REALLY well and it will definitely go into rotatioin on the list of dinners we have.  This is another one of those recipes where I don't really measure too much... I think you can throw in some extras and it will turn out great anyway.
Makes 4 servings

3 cups medium egg noodles
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped onion (I used onion powder, and didn't measure it)
2 tbsp margarine or butter (since we had a ton of butter, that's what I used)
1 11 oz can condensed cheddar cheese soup (if you don't want to use the cheese soup, you can supstitute a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup)
3/4 cup milk
1 9 1/4 oz can of tuna, drained
grated parmesan cheese (we used the stuff in the can and it was great, but feel free to over acheive and grate your own!)

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Cook noodles, drain and set aside
• In a saucepan, cook celery and onion in butter or margarine until tender
• Stir in soup and milk
• Stir in tuna and cooked noodles
• Transfer to a 1 1/2 qt casserole
• Sprinkle with parmesan cheese
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (or until top looks nice and crunchy!)

Like I said, I was surprised how good this was with the cheese soup, and it doesn't have a real overpwering tuna flavor to it. 

Also, I do plan on getting pictures up of everything I make, but I left my camera in the car for a while and I didn't get pictures so we have to wait til the next rotation.

Picture time!  #1 is pre-parmasan, #2 is post-parmasan, #3 is allllll said and done.

Semi-Homemade Minestrone Soup

I found this recipe in a Sandra Lee Semi-homemade cookbook. I love her books! Everything is super easy since nothing is made from scratch. Maggie got me a semi-homemade dessert book for my birthday, and now we love her recipes!

This recipe is super fast - the soup was ready in about 10 minutes, and I was surprised at how good it was.

Makes 6 servings. Unless you're like me and like lots of soup, then its maybe 3-4.

• 1 qt Swanson low sodium chicken broth (I used the regular because I love salt, and it wasn't very salty)
• 1 pack (16 oz) frozen garlic pasta and vegetables
• 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained
• 1 can (14.5 oz) Italian seasoned tomatoes (I used the ones the basil and oregano)
• 1/2 cup tomato paste (This made the broth kind of thick, so you can probably cut down a little on the tomato paste if you want a thinner broth)

There were no chickpeas in this recipe, but you can't have minestrone without them, so grab a small can and throw them in!

Bring broth to boil.
Stir in ingredients, simmer for 5 minutes.

Gram's Chicken-n-que Sauce

This sauce is deliiiiiicious.  You may have had it before.  Its sweet, sour, and tangy goodness, and can be used as a maranade or a dipping sauce (which is the way the McGinnis clan likes it best).  We usually have this with grilled chicken, and white rice.  I like to put the sauce on my rice as well.  It also makes for good leftovers.  I just throw rice, chicken, and the sauce in a container and pop it in the microwave.

Just mix the ingredients in a small pot, bring to a simmer over low/medium heat and voila!

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp onion powder

1 dash worcheshire sauce

And don't forget Carrie and Doug Hefferdon's arguement about how to say worcheshire sauce... say it really fast so it sounds like you know how to pronounce it!

Old Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Okay, pretty much anyone who knows me knows I love macaroni and cheese.  Anyone who knows me better knows that my mom makes a killer mac and cheese, and that we eat it for Christmas dinner every year with our ham.  Anyway, its a super easy recipe and can be used as a side dish to almost any meal. 


I'm kind of lazy when it comes to measuring out my ingredients.  I've included the exact measurements, but a lot of this is give and take - have fun with it!  Also, the recipe only calls for 1/2 package of elbow macaroni, but there will be enough cheese sauce for an entire package, so you can either do the half and cut down the cheese sauce recipe, or do what we do and make a ton and have leftovers! 
Prep time:  15 minutes
Bake time: 25 minutes


8 oz. (1/2 package) elbow macaroni
1/4 cup margarine -or- butter (you will be making a rue, and I've found that butter works better)
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp dry mustard (totally optional - I don't think we have ever used it)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (we use and entire brick of Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp White, and lately I've been adding in a few other cheeses... you can never have too much cheese and it only makes the recipe better)
bread crumbs (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 deg.
• Cook elbow macaroni.  Drain, set aside.
• While you're cooking your macaroni, in a separate medium saucepan, melt margarine or butter, blend in flour, salt, pepper (and mustard if you're using it)
• Cook until mixture is smooth and bubbly, stirring with a whisk.
• Gradually add milk
• Stir over medium heat until mixture boils (this takes a little while.. be patient and keep stirring!) 
• Simmer one minute (still stirring!) until mixture thickens.
• Gradually mix in cheese.  Stir over low heat until cheese is melted.
• Add pasta, mix together.  Pour into 2-qt casserole.
• Top with breadcrumbs.
• Bake for 25 minutes (or until top looks crunchy)

Enjoy!

I forgot about this until Maggie just asked, but I found cubed ham in the commisary one day and put that into the mac and cheese.  Its great because all you have to do is mix the ham with the mac and cheese before you put it in the oven, and that's it.  You don't have to worry about making something separately.  As a side, that was probably Bing's favorite way to eat it, and its what I would do with our Christmas leftovers anyway!

And now, some pictures!  The top one is pre-breadcrumbs and the bottom is after its been cooked.  I went a little overboard with the breadcrumbs.  Oops :)  I made this for Bing to take to work with him last night (16 Sep) since the guys are all working 12's overnight.  I thought they might like some home cookin'.