I Heart Pinterest: Green Pudding

In honor of St. Patty's Day, I wanted to make something festive. And tasty too.

St. Patrick's Day Green Pudding Dessert

What You'll Need:
2 boxes of Jello Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
3 1/2 C Milk
1 t of Green Food Coloring
1 tub of Cool Whip (yea, you know how I said it)
1 Package of Oreos, crushed



I started off by crushing all my Oreos (and eating a few along the way..)











Next, pour your milk into a large bowl. Add the food coloring. Stir.

Add in your two pudding packets to milk mixture, and whisk until well blended (about two minutes). Let the pudding form for 5 minutes.

After the pudding has formed, add in the tub of Cool Whip, carefully stirring together.

It a bowl (or whatever you want to put it in) layer crushed cookies and pudding mixture.

FYI, you will never be able to create straight even layers. The pudding just sinks right into the cookies!

Garnish as desired, and let cool for ATLEAST an hour.

NOM NOM NOM!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Find more St. Patrick's inspired foods and crafts on my Pinterest board.

I Heart Pinterest: Dinner

Before I started having the organized days for my blog, I was already making recipes I found on Pinterest. You all seemed to really like it, so I've decided to continue it, I'll just be doing a bigger variety of foods :)
Today is dinner. But who knows, maybe a few weeks down the road...a dessert...breakfast..a snack!

I know you all have food boards on your Pinterest, and I hope this inspires you to start cooking too. It's really a great place to start when you have no idea what your doing, like me.

I made this recipe last Saturday, when I was back in the 'burbs at my parents. I don't think there is anything out there that says 'home sweet home' more than a Chicken Pot Pie. Strangely enough, I'm not a fan of the whole 'pie' part, but I came across a Chicken Pot Pie Pasta that looked just right for my taste buds. You can find the original recipe here. Go figure, Martha Stewart. Love that woman.

What You'll Need:
Salt N Peppa
3/4 lb Penne Pasta
1/3 lb Green Beans, cut into 1 in pieces
3 T Unsalted Butter
1 Small Yellow Onion, minced
1 Stalk Celery, thinly sliced
2 Carrots, diced medium
1/4 C All-Purpose Flour
2 C Chicken Broth
2 C diced Cooked Chicken

FYI: I had to double my recipe. This recipe says it makes six, but when its that good and you already have 6 people, make more.

So before I went up north, I had my dad pre-cook the chicken. If there is one thing I hate, its cooking chicken. It also just made the process go a lot faster.

As I always do, prepare the ingredients before hand. Sometimes recipes will say 'meanwhile, chop beans'. Well ya know what? I'm a slow cutter, mincer, slicer, and dicer. I get my stuff organized before I start (it gave the beans some time to thaw too which made them peeerfect).

All my things prepared :) Oh, and some wine. Always cook with wine.

After you've prepped, or maybe even at the tail end of prepping, start your water.

Once it boils, dump in your pasta and cook it 3 minutes less than the package instructions. For the last three minutes, dump in your green beans. Cook the beans and pasta together for the last three minutes, drain.

While Your Pasta is Cooking: 

• In a large saucepan, melt your butter on medium-high.
• Add your onion, celery, and carrots. Cook until your onion is translucent (kind of hard to tell with the butter, its about 4 minutes)
• Add in your flour, continually stirring for 1 minute
• Gradually add in your broth, while continually stirring, then bring to a boil.
• After you've reached a boil, let your mixture simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Add your chicken, salt, and pepper, and stir. 

You then have to combine this two together. In the orginal recipe, it suggested adding the pasta to the chicken mixture. No. Especially if you doubled the recipe. Way too much foid to fit in a large saucepan. I just threw it all in a big bowl and then mixed it up

Nom. Nom. Nom.

The Whole Enchilada

One of the hardest things about living on your own, at least for me, is cooking. Even living back home, the only thing I knew how to make were cookies, spaghetti, grilled cheese, soup, and potatoes  Oh, and I also knew how to brown meat. Although all these things are delicious, I need some variety in my life. Ya know...spice things up a bit. Which is why I've been all experimental up in the kitchen (and by experimental I mean following someone else's recipe word for word). I am not, and will never be, Martha Stewart in the kitchen.

So not only am I learning how to cook new things...but I'm doing it on a budget. This is no easy task. I've been hunting down recipes which are a) EASY and b) inexpensive, with not very many ingredients (or ingredients I know I can store, and use over and over again). I normally find all my recipes on Pinterest, and 'pin' them to my 'Yum' board. Unless it's a fall or winter/holiday food, then those go on their own board. What can I say, I'm verrryy seasonal :)

So far I've been pretty successful. This is not just success by my standards but the boys' taste buds approve too. He comes from a family of really good cooks, so I'll admit, I'm a bit intimidated!

Last night I attempted a very very veryyy simple enchilada dish. It's only four ingredients! YAY!
All you need is:

• Tortillas (the big ones!)
• Shredded Cheese (Mexican Style)
• Corn (in the freezer section)
• Chicken Boobies (or whatever part you prefer..maybe your a thigh guy. Whatever makes you happy)

I normally do all my shopping at Jewel because I'm a Preferred Card Member and its only about 1/4 mile away from the apartment (which in the city..is a HUGE bonus!) Sometimes we will partake in an occasional 'Costco Run' to stock up on chicken, ground beef, O.J, milk..and bacon. Not my favorite thing in the world as I find Costco extremely overwhelming. Anyways, I probably spent no more than $6.00 on this meal! Winner!

To start, cook your chicken boobs and corn (Embarrassing secret: I still have to ask Nathan if the chicken looks done.). Pre-heat your oven for 350. After, lay out your tortillas and fill them with a handful of shredded chicken, tablespoon-ish of corn, and a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Make as many of these wraps as you want, or however many fit in your baking dish (In my case, it was only two....I'm slacking on the nice big casserole dish). When you are laying them down in the dish, remember: seam side down!! After your dish is full, put as much shredded cheese as you please over the top. Stick em in , let em bake for about 25 to 30 mins (although I found for only those two, I only needed to bake for 15 mins).

 Serve warm. I personally added a little sour cream on my plate for dipping. nom nom nom.

Enjoy!