I found a yummy recipe for crockpot lasagna and can’t wait to try it. Lasagna is one of those intimidating dishes because it contains a lot of ingredients and there are many steps in preparing it. For these reasons I usually just buy my lasagna already prepared.

To cook it in the crockpot is bound to be simpler than making it the traditional way, so I’m willing to give it a try.

Have you ever thought about just selling everything and taking to the road? The dream of many is to explore this country of ours in an RV. Many are already living that dream including the folks behind the RV Cooking Show. The first episode covers how to make guaucamole the Tuscon, Arizona way.

Technorati Tags: RV cooking, RV cooking show

When I worked at the local television station, it seems we were always planning potluck meals. It worked out especially great for us that worked evenings to not have to trample into town for food. The TV station was located a good 10 miles from anywhere.

One of the anchors made taco soup for one potluck dinner. It was really good, so another anchor had asked her for the recipe. She obliged and gave it to her. Well, a few months pass and some organization is putting together a local cookbook and asked the local celebrity anchors to contribute a recipe or two. The anchor is received the taco soup recipe submitted that one and another recipe to the cause. The anchor is who had given her the taco soup recipe was a little miffed that she turned in a recipe given to her as her own. Not only had she turned it in but to a cookbook that the first anchor might have even submitted the same recipe to.

In hindsight, it’s kind of funny to think about it. Although I’m sure the taco soup recipe original holder is still livid and shocked by the other anchor’s actions.

This taco soup recipe isn’t that taco soup recipe, although it is pretty close to it.
Read more…

Sundays are a great day to do some crockpot cooking. My Mom’s group has a new recipe each Sunday just for the crockpot. It gave me the idea of posting one of my own crockpot recipes right here each week.

Crockpot cooking is so easy and wonderfully delicious. Just toss those ingredients into the crockpot, turn it on, and then sit back to enjoy the day while dinner takes care of itself. Sundays at my Mom’s usually means roast and potatoes will be on the menu. There is nothing easier than cooking a roast in a crockpot.

Rub the roast with your favorite seasonings. We’re so fancy around here that we use both salt and pepper with a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Next place the roast in the crockpot. Cut up a few potatoes to toss in there with it. Add some water. Turn on crockpot and let cook. If you turn on high then the roast will likely be done in about 6-8 hours. If it’s a lower setting, then it will be much longer.

Then enjoy a tender roast with potatoes. I love roast cooked in the crockpot since it comes out so tender and juicy.

Technorati Tags: crockpot cooking

I love it when we have Taco Night. It means mealtime will be a breeze. Here is how we make tacos:

1 lb. ground beef
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package of soft tortillas or hard tacos (or both!)
Salsa
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Grated Mexican cheese blend

First I brown the beef, then drain. Add the taco seasoning and about 1/3 cup of water. Let it simmer to all the water is gone. Next I place the soft tacos in the microwave and cover with a damp paper towel. Set the microwave for about 35 seconds. To prepare the hard tacos, I preheat the over to 350 degrees; place the shells on a baking sheet and into the oven. I usually pull them out in 5-10 minutes.

I cut up the tomatoes and shred the lettuce. I buy the cheese already grated. Voila! I’m done and in record time. Tacos are always a hit around our house.

It’s going to be a long summer since it is just the beginning of June, and I can’t wait to see the next season of Desperate Housewives. While at my parent’s house, I was reading a Woman’s Day magazine back from December. As I was flipping through I noticed a blurb for the Desperate Housewives cookbook.

Intrigued, I read more. I’m such a huge fan of this show. I even have the Desperate Housewives trivia game. I couldn’t believe a cookbook was out for months and I didn’t know about it. As I was reading about the Desperate Housewives cookbook, it sounds like an interesting cooking with Wisteria Lane flair. Recipes reflect the character’s personalities.
From Bree’s prime and proper recipes to Susan’s easy Mac and cheese, each recipe has that housewives spin on it.

Maybe the cookbook will help to fill that Desperate Housewife fix until the new season.

Sandwiches are a lunch staple around our house. Sometimes the bread, meat, and condiments can becoming old and boring. A few extra touches can make spice up that plain sandwich.

The Bread Instead of using plain bread, try using hoagies, wheat bread, or even tortillas. Changing up the bread you use will make a ham sandwich into a po-boy or a wrap with little effort.

Serve it open face Put the meat on your sandwich, melt some cheese on top, and leave that other slice of bread on the plate or in the bread bag. An open face sandwich will make your hungry bunch think of a sandwich from a restaurant. My husband saw a recipe for a plain sandwich. The only difference was it was open faced. He was salivating over at the mere thought of it. Open faced sandwiches are easy to make and can be a real crowd pleaser.

Mix up the Sandwich Meat Using two types of meat on a sandwich can be a great way to spice it up. Turkey and ham go together really well. For more taste, try salami, corned beef, or even pepperoni.

Say Cheese Think outside the box when it comes to cheese. Venture into other cheeses besides American for sandwiches like provolone, swiss, and cheddar. I like to slice a Colby/Monterrey Jack blend on my ham sandwiches.

Leave the luncheon meat in the fridge A peanut butter and jelly sandwich always hits the spot for me. Tuna salad and chicken salad sandwiches are also good especially on a hot summer day. We like to take tuna and use a tortilla to make a tuna wrap. This was a sandwich we discovered after Hurricane Katrina when all we had was our canned goods. It’s very tasty and satisfying.

Sandwiches make a great lunch. With a little change here and there, that boring sandwich will become a lunchtime hit.

Chicken Salad is one of the easiest salads to make, and this recipe makes it even easier. If you don’t have any leftover chicken, use a can of chicken. It’s good and it’s already cut up for you ready to use.

What you need:

Chicken
Dill Relish
Mayonaise
Apple or Grapes or both

Shred the chicken into a bowl. Start with a good spoonful each of dill relish and mayonaise. If you need more mayo, then add it later. Cut your apple up into bite-sized chunks and slice the grapes in half. I like to refrigerate and then eat so it’s nice and cold.

Back when I was in college, we had to make webpages using notepad. How times have changed. Now it isn’t paramount to know HTML to have a web presence, which is a good thing. HTML is easiest enough to figure out. Chances are with any website or blog you may have to dabble into the code every now and then to tweak it.

Finding a good html editor will help make tweaking code easier and faster. My favorite free HTML editor is one I have used for years. It’s called Arachnophilia. I first learned of Arachnophilia when I was in college way back in the late 90′s. A few years ago they updated to a java platform, and I didn’t really care for that version. The version I still use is 4.0. I like that each menu item has a button toolbar, so if I want to build a table, I just click on the table button. Then I have a row of commands that are related to tables. By clicking on a button, it sends the code to the editor. Arachnophilia is free but is classified as careware.

Another free html editor that has promise is Crimson Editor. Crimson editor is more than an html editor. It is a source editor to edit code for many programming languages like C and PHP. My geeky husband uses Crimson Editor. I have yet to really delve into it. I do like that when I view a source page of a website, it automatically opens in Crimson Editor. Crimson Editor is fast loading, so to view source took about as long as viewing it in notepad. Crimson Editor also has a spell checker and user-defined macros.

There are plenty of free html editors out there. These are only two that I have either used extensively or someone that I know has. Of the few that I have tried, these seem to show the most promise for my needs.

Shepherd’s Pie is an easy recipe that can usually be made with what you already have on hand. In school, we always called it modern meat pie. I never ate it then as it wasn’t appealing. It was school cafeteria food afterall. I actually enjoy it now. It’s contains one of my favorite comfort foods plus it’s super easy to fix.

What you’ll need:

Potatoes
1 lb hamburger meat
1 cup shredded cheese

Boil your potatoes until you can make mashed potatoes. I recommend red potatoes and leave on the skins. Red potatoes are fairly soft and won’t take that long to be ready. Brown the hamburger meat and drain. I like to season my hamburger meat usually with Worchestershire sauce to give it a little kick. Any cheese will do.

Take your mashed potatoes and put them in the bottom of a casserole dish. Next, layer the meat on top of the potatoes. Finally, top with the cheese. Cover and back at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.