Tuesdays at the Table

Hi There and Welcome to Tuesday's at the Table. This is a fun little thing that Andrea over at My Chihuahua Bites started. Since I love to cook.....OK that was a big fat lie there, LMAO. I really don't like to cook all that much, only just a little bit, but I am always looking for new recipes for the fam, so I thought it might be fun to participate.

Travis told me last week that I am not an adventurous cook. and I said "Well listen ya little bastage I mean brat, You can always cook if you want something different!!" He has yet to take me up on that. He says his friends mom always has a cookbook out everytime he is over. OMG!! Can you even believe that crap! Little Miss Suzie Homemaker I am not!!

Anywhooo this weeks edition of Tuesday's at the Table brings us this recipe....

MEXICAN LASAGNE

1 pound of ground beef

1 jar (12 ounces) chunky salsa

6 corn tortillas (10 inch size)

1 can refried beans

1 cup sour cream (can use reduced fat)

1 package of pre-shredded Mexican Style cheese blend.

chopped fresh tomato, green onion for garnish.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brown the ground beef. When browned stir in 1/2 cup of the salsa.

Spread the remaining salsa on the bottom of a 10 inch pie pan (deep dish, and I have also used a 9x13 pan but you have to play a little bit with the tortillas to make them fit the square dish). Top the salsa with 3 tortillas. Spread 1/2 of the beans on the tortillas, then 1/2 of the meat mixture, then 1/2 cup of sour cream, and then 1 cup of cheese. Top with the remaining 3 tortillas, and repeat layers. Save 1/4 cup of cheese.

Cover the pie pan loosely with foil and bake until it is hot and the cheese has melted, approximately 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes, then cut into wedges or spoon onto plates. Garnish with remaining cheese, chopped tomato, and green onion. Serves 6-8.

I hope you enjoy! Travis and John really liked this! Be sure to check out more recipes over at My Chihuahua Bites!

Soooo what else is new......I'm working with a close friend on designing Travis' graduation invitations. They are sooooo cool! Turning out awesome. And he did sign with a college last night. I'll have to post about that later! He is very excited though! I am too, in an "I'm going to miss the hell out of you when you go" sort of way!

That's about it here in the house of the beachbum wannabe's. Hope this Tuesday finds you all well!!

P.S. I take it you didn't like my extremely boring post on My Favorite Things yesterday. Not one single comment!! It's OK!!! I'll try to make them a little bit more exciting.

From the Recipe Box

Hey there everyone! I tried out this totally awesome recipe the other day and the fam just loved it! It was GONE. And it is not that bad for you either! You can make some lighter choices (like I did) and it still was delish! I love anything with a creamy sauce. I wish I wasn't like that because often times those are the worst foods for you, but sadly, it is the case! So of course this recipe caught my eye. And it uses the crock pot. Easy Schmeasy!! I'm glad I tried it!!

NOTE: I was not real strict on the cooking times, and I left this in for much longer than required, both before the cream cheese sauce was added, and after. The chicken was so moist and tender it was shredding apart and tasted wonderful poured over white rice. The more shredded it was, the better it tasted, in my opinion.

Creamy Crockpot Italian Chicken

• 4 boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 envelope of Italian salad dressing mix
• 1/2 C. water
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used light).
• 1 can of condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, undiluted. I used Campbells Healthy Request
• 1 can of mushroom stems and pieces, drained.

Place chicken in the bottom of the crockpot. Combine salad dressing mix and water and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushroom pieces. Pour over chicken. Cook one hour longer or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over pasta or rice.

Enjoy!!

Recipe Time!!!

I tried this soup out on the fam last week, and they loved it. They are always leary when I'm on a diet, because they are just not sure what to think of the new recipes I come home with, and of course most of the food is bland, but this soup was really, REALLY good!!

Crock Pot Beef Vegetable Soup
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic (I used 2 tsp of the chopped garlic).
2 cups cole slaw mix (this is just shredded cabbage in the produce department)
1 bag of frozen corn
1 bag of frozen green beans
4 cups of V-8 juice. I used the low sodium but I think the hot and spicy would be excellent!
1 can of Italian stewed tomatoes
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. dried basil

Brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. Drain if necessary. Put in crock pot with the rest of the ingredients and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

I added some Franks Hot Sauce because, well I just come from a long line of Frank's Hot Sauce lovers and I tend to use it in soups. IT WAS SOOOO DELISH!!

Try it and let me know what you think!!