Yes, I'm still cooking from the freezer/cabinet leftovers:)

Happy Friday, everyone!  We made it thru another week!  The freezer is looking great, and next week will be the week I really tackle the cabinet with the canned items and boxed items!  Woohoo, how exciting;) 

Last night I made Baked Pork and Shrimp Wontons with leftover ground pork and shrimp.  As I suspected Wednesday night, it was time consuming, and since I grocery shopped, had to put that stuff away, etc, we ate dinner at 8pm.  I am not a fan of this.  I like to eat around 6:30.  I felt like I ate and it was time for bed!

Nonetheless, they were pretty tasty - I say pretty tasty because I felt they needed something more...maybe once you read the ingredients you can suggest something - a veggie, a sauce, a seasoning, something was just missing.  Husband gave them a 9.5 - I need a 10!

What you'll need:

• 1 package of wonton wrappers - I used about 25 of them and had plenty of mixture left with l lb ground pork - I was sick of folding them, though!
• 1/2 lb - 1 lb ground pork
• 1/2 lb small shrimp, uncooked, but de-shelled, and minced
• 8 water chestnuts, finely chopped
• 2 scallions finely chopped
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 lg egg, beaten
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375.  Combine all ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with Pam.  Put 1 tsp of the mixture on each wonton wrapper and fold into somewhat of a pocket; seal with a small amount of water.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy and cooked thru.

Sounds easy right?  Well spooning that mixture onto each (about 20) wonton wrappers and folding them up takes a lot of time, too much for when you're starting to make dinner at 6:50! 

Did I forget to mention I have a steamer, which would be great for these things, but I'm scared to use it!?!

The best part of the meal to me was the Beef Rice-A-Roni.  All stuff from the freezer/cabinet makes me very happy though:)

Tonight was frozen flounder with crab stuffing that I did buy fresh last week and froze.  Easy, and nothing fancy because it's Friday night, and you know what, I am t-i-r-e-d!! 

I'm going back to watching the Bourne Identity with the husband hopefully followed by Up in the Air:)  See you all later this weekend AND please give me suggestions for those wontons - I'll post a picture of them later.

Last but not least - it's a Friday night, what's your drink of choice?  Mine you ask?

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Kinda Wicked Cheap Wednesday while cleaning out the freezer!

Happy Wednesday!  Another gorgeous day up here, but I'm ready for the rain to come so I can lay around, at least for a little bit this weekend, and watch movies in comfy clothes!!  AND sleep in!!!

Tonight was a meal I haven't made in a very long time - Spicy Peanut Bake Chicken with Jasmine Rice and green beans.  Easy easy, and yummy yummy!  And again I got to use things from the freezer, cabinets, and leftovers:)

What you'll need for the chicken:

• 1-2 lbs boneless chicken breast - I had about 1.5 lbs, or 3 breasts, each cut in half
• one package, which has 2 envelopes, of A Taste of Thai Spicy Peanut Bake mix

Yup, that's it!  Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken pieces into a baking dish and coat with both envelopes of the mix, turning chicken to coat both sides.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken pieces are fully cooked thru (it was about 27 minutes for mine).

While this is baking, I prepared a cup of A Taste of Thai Jasmine Rice as directed on the package.  Once cooked, I added a can of pineapple chunks (from pineapple juice, not syrup, as learned at the Univ of Lissy) and some honey roasted peanuts - yum!  Paired these with green beans and wallah - dinner!   Oh yes, and leftover cornbread from last night;)

I love this meal and I don't know why I don't make it more often!  The spice mix is the pefect blend of sweet and spicy!  

I know a lot of you make your own seasonings (taco, chili, etc) at home, but do you have a favorite packaged seasoning you use, or what is your favorite seasoning to make at home?   Does anyone else out there like A Taste of Thai at home items?

Tomorrow night is NOT well planned - grocery shopping after work and then making a new, scary to me, meal...this could be dinner at 8pm, or Wendy's at 8:30pm;)  

Have a great night everyone - I'm off to eat some more Purely Decadent Coconut IC!  Oh, and my cookies were a hit at work today...as usual;)

Night 2 of cleaning out the freezer a success, and a cookie recipe:)

Helllllo readers!  Today is a special day, as it is Melissa's bday - make sure to stop by and wish her the best of days!

It was sunny again today, we got pre-approved and can start looking for houses, it's our 10 month (wow, huh?;)) wedding anniversary, and night 2 of cleaning out the freezer was an even bigger success!  Leftover frozen hamburg, spaghetti sauce we already had in the fridge, can of red kidney beans, and a chili seasoning packet (yes, I know, I can make it from my own seasonings at home quite easily, next time!) = easy!  Topped with avocado and a side of homemade cornbread and nachos with cheese, and we were good and happy, eating away our Mexican food, laughing at Seinfeld, and talking house business:)

Chili:  you need -

• 1 lb hamburg
• 1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 packet of chili seasoning
• 20 oz of spaghetti marinara
• 1 cup water
• 1 avocado

Brown hamburg over medium high heat until cooked thru.  Once cooked thru, put into small medium sized pot.  Add chili seasoning, the spaghetti marinara, the drained kidney beans, and 1 cup of water.  Stir together and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and let cook for 9-11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all ingredients have mixed together and are cooked thru.  So easy, and a great way to use stuff you already, most likely, have!

Now onto the good stuff - cookies!  All I do is follow the  Tollhouse recipe and add a cup of coconut flakes - that simple!  You just have to make sure not to use too much coconut, as it cooks faster and sometimes makes it more difficult for the dough to stay together.

Off to hopefully read some blogs and watch a DVR'd Project Runway before sleep:)  I hope my old boss, who we're having a surprise birthday party for tomorrow at work, is so surprised and happy!  And I know my co-workers all love these cookies, so I hope they are happy with them:)  

Tomorrow night - a meal recipe/photos for, oops, not so Wicked Cheap Wednesday!  See you tomorrow!

The week of using every leftover in the freezer begins!

Happy Monday - hope everyone made it thru;)  Mondays, oh Mondays, they're tough ones!

This week, the husband and I are doing our best to use all of our leftovers/frozen meats in the freezer - you don't realize what adds up in there!  Tonight I was using a chicken stew type thing I made months ago - chicken, corn, peas, carrots, and I honestly don't even remember what the liquid-y part was made of!  I took this mixture, an additional can of cream of chicken soup and 2 pie crusts and made a pot pie with it!   Yes, night 1 a success!  Spring cleaning can start in your freezer, right??

Has anyone else had wicked nice weather (sorry, wicked is a MA thing) the past few days - 50's and 60's, I'll take it!  Totally put me in the mood to get the spring cleaning going this weekend!  Sunlight always makes me happier:)  Rain coming this weekend, though, so I'm thinking it's going to be a full weekend of movies!

If you could choose to watch 3 Oscar movies, out On Demand now, this weekend, which would you choose?  Help me out!!

Tomorrow night I'll have a dessert for you; Wednesday, a real meal recipe :)  See you all then!

PS - Is anyone else watching The Bachelor wedding?  Molly's lipstick/makeup is out of control!

Happy Sunday! Can't wait for the Oscars!

Hello blog friends!  Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!  This weekend has been fab for CheyCanCook - yesterday my mom and I went to the Tyson American Cup, the best international gymnastics meet that the USA hosts!  Mucho fun and a great meet! 

Then last night, the husband and I then went and celebrated Melissa's bday!  Happy almost birthday, BFF!  We will celebrate some more when we've all had more sleep:) 

So tonight it's back to cooking for me, AND the Oscars!  Granted, I've only seen one of the movies nominated, Inglorious Bastards, but I plan on seeing the others when they come out on DVD/On Demand:)  I love the dresses, interviews, and the people-watching!  I wish I had thought of it sooner, because I would love to try to create the same menu that Wolfgang Puck is making for the Governor's Ball after the Oscars, with my own spin of course - note to self, remind self of this next year!  Create Wolfgang's menu, watch all nominated Oscar movies, and friends commit to do the same, and host an Oscar party - sounds like a plan to me!  Next year!

Tonight, instead of chicken pot pies, smoked salmon, and baked Alaska, we'll be having this beef stew that I've made numerous times before.  I guess beef stew wouldn't be the perfect Oscar meal because of the chance it could drip down your gazillion dollar dress:)  But we'll eat our beef stew and italian bread and enjoy the Oscars all the same:) 

Do you love the Oscars?   What is your favorite part?  Who do you want to win/which movies have you seen??   Does anyone host a party?

Talk to you all later - it's time to clean!