Not a favorite photo from this week but a memorable one.

I doubled a recipe for Cheesy Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole (one for my family and one for a family at church). I made 16-20 servings!! Probably a first in my kitchen.

It was pure craziness and I am exhausted. Joey saw the kitchen at one point and said “It looks like you are doing catering in here”. I don’t think I’ll go into catering anytime soon but this recipe tastes delicious and I get to eat some of it for dinner

You should definitely try this recipe but I don’t recommend doubling it (unless you have a lot of bowls, counter space and time. Oh and A LOT of people to feed).

While we were waiting for Joey to get home tonight, E found the plastic container I keep my coupons in. I tried to stop him from pulling them out but I wasn’t quick enough.

Once he pulled one out he started pulling all the pages apart and he looked like he was having fun so I took pictures

and then I joined in his play by putting the paper on my head. He thought that was pretty funny.

I love hearing him laugh!

E’s first trip to the zoo

I love quick and easy meals that are delicious and not out of a box (i.e. Hamburger Helper) and this is a great one.

I’ve been making this recipe for years and every time Joey ate it he would comment “You should find a way to thicken the sauce”. I’ve always agreed with him but didn’t do anything to change the recipe until tonight. I thickened the sauce with 1 Tbsp of cornstarch and it worked perfectly.

Skillet Beef Broccoli [Adapted from Lipton]

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb sirloin steak, cut into 1″ strips
broccoli, cut into pieces
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
1 1/4 cups water
1 Tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp cornstarch
cooked rice

1. Heat oil in skillet and brown steak. Set aside.
2. Mix soup mix, water, brown sugar, soy sauce and cornstarch together and pour in skillet. Add broccoli and bring to a boil over high heat until the sauce thickens and the broccoli is fork tender. Reduce head to low and simmer uncovered for 2 minutes.
3. Return steak to skillet and heat through.
4. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Note: A few friends have told me that I should post recipes on my blog more often and I don’t because I don’t have time AND I don’t have great photography skills to even make posting recipes worth it (because who wants to make something that doesn’t LOOK good? I mean really. Notice how I didn’t even wipe the edges of the bowl. Geez).

Maybe one day I can learn how to take pictures of my food and start my own food blog. Maybe one day.