A clean house is a happy house. I guess.

I was going to write about this new shrimp and rice recipe I just tried. But it was not good at all, so I will not be telling you about it.

Therefore, I will take this time to tell you about my new cleaning schedule I made up for myself. I've been keeping up with it for 2 weeks already, which is good for me! Usually Josh and I will do most of our cleaning right before company comes over. And that's about it. Even though our place is small, it just seemed so overwhelming. So, I figured if I do something little each day, it won't take up too much of my time, but will pay off in the long run.

Here is my schedule:

Mondays: dust tables, shelves, etc. Windex mirrors and windows

Tuesdays: Swiffer all pergo floors (which is all the floors but the kitchen and bathroom; we have no carpeting)

Wednesdays: Swiffer and mop bathroom floors

Thursdays: Swiffer and mop kitchen floors; remove everything from kitchen counters and wipe them down completely, clean kitchen sink

Friday: Vacuum rugs, couch, and fabric on chairs

Weekend: pick up misc. stuff laying around; clean bathroom sink, toilet, and bathtub

And then there's stuff I've made a list of to do once or twice a month:

Once a month:
Clean coffee maker
Clean kitchen drain
Clean inside of the microwave
Clean out pantry

Twice a month:
Clean out fridge/expired foods in there
Wash sheets (this may not seem like a lot, but I'm no good at remembering to do this)

Let me know if there's something you think I should put on my list. I may not add it, because let's face it, I hate cleaning. But if it's something essential that I missed, I'll think hard about it. :-)

Well, at least it was edible..

I tried a new recipe, again, last night. I think I'm just getting bored with our normal food. And as I said in my title, at least it was edible.. I think that's all it had going for it. My one tip for you after making this recipe: make sure you have all your ingredients before you start! I realized that I didn't have some of the ingredients that I could've sworn I had, as I was making each part, so it was too late. I improvised without them, and it just wasn't the same.

The recipe I tried was actually a few recipes I put together--fettucine alfredo with chicken and sauteed spinach.

Because I'm feeling lazy right now, I'm just going to link to where I got the recipes from instead of type them all out. I apologize in advance.

Alfredo Sauce

My problem with this is that I only had HALF of the amount of parmesan cheese I was supposed to. Therefore, the sauce didn't quite thicken enough. I find that to be a problem. Alfredo sauce is supposed to be thick. But like I said, it was still edible.

Sauteed Spinach

And my problem with the sauteed spinach is that I didn't have any garlic. I usually use minced garlic whenever a recipe calls for garlic. And I guess that was my problem--I always use it. Therefore, I didn't have any like I thought I did. So I sauteed it without garlic. It was still pretty good, but I'm sure it wasn't the same.

I am happy to say that the chicken and fettucine noodles were very good. :-) I have to say that I am liking chicken thighs wayyyy more than chicken breasts lately. Next time I make this, I will make sure I have all my ingedients first.

Here's my non-professional picture of the meal.

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup!

I've already made my 3rd new recipe of the month--Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup. And it was very good! I guess I have a lot of time on my hands now that I'm just working part-time. :-) This recipe had a little more prep work that I would normally like for a crock pot meal, but, it was definitely worth it.

Just one tip--the recipe says to bake the potatoes for 45 min. to 1 hour, however, I found that I had to bake them about 1 hour and 20 minutes in order for them to be fully baked. Different ovens may vary I guess, though. Here's the recipe!

Ingredients

4 large baking potatoes

2/3 cup butter or margarine

2/3 cup flour

6 cups milk

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

4 chopped green onions

12 slices cooked and crumbled bacon

1 1/4 coups shredded cheddar cheese

8 oz. light sour cream

1 1/2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules

additional cooked bacon (optional)

Preparation

1. Wash potatoes and prick several times with a fork.

2. Bake in foil in a preheated oven (I put mine in at 375 degrees--the recipe didn't say specifically) for 45 min. - 1 hour (or longer)

3. Let cool.

4. Cut potatoes into cubes.

5. Melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over low heat (med. to large sized sauce pan)

6. Add flour, stirring until smooth.

7. Cook 1 minutes, stirring constantly

8. Gradually add milk

9. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly.

10. Pour into crock pot and then add potato cubes, salt, pepper, green onions, crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, and chicken granules.

11. Cook on high for 4 hours.

12. Stir in the sour cream right before serving.

13. If soup is too thick, add a little milk at a time until desired thickness is achieved.

14. Garnish with additional sour cream, bacon, and/or cheese.

The recipe says this makes 6 servings. However, I think it makes a lot more. I guess it depends on how much you eat! There were 4 of us who ate this for dinner the night that I made it. And there was definitely more than 2 servings left! Josh and I then ate some leftovers for dinner the next night, and there was still a good amount left over that I am freezing it to eat at a later date. Maybe we just don't eat much, I don't know. ..

Good serving suggestion--go to Panera Bread and buy some sourdough bread bowls and serve the soup in that! But I am big on Panera bread bowls. :-)

Here is my picture of the soup. I feel this doesn't make it look tooo appetizing, however, it is good. Trust me.

And now I guess I have a 4th new recipe that I made this weekend as well. It's the one thing that Josh said he wanted when he got out of the hospital. Cheesecake. I have made cheesecake before, however, but not this kind.

This was a New York Style Cheesecake. I added my own touch to it though, and topped the cheesecake with Ganache Glaze that I wrote about in a previous blog.

Ingredients for Cheesecake

4 packages cream cheese, softened

1 can condensed milk

1/3 coup flour

4 eggs @ room temperature

1 tbsp. vanilla

Ingredients for Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/4 coups crushed graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cups granulated sugar

5 tbsp. melted butter

Preparation

Crust:

Combine all ingredients and press firmly into a 9" spring form pan

Cheesecake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer

Greadually beat in milk

Add eggs one at a time

Add flour and vanilla and mix together

Pour in crust

Wrap botton of the pan with foil and put in a shallow baking pan

Add 2 cups of hot water in the shallow baking pan

Bake 1 hour or until lightly browned

My favorite Taco Bell food--homemade!

Getting my new recipe for September over with already! Actually, there's 2 recipes here. And I am planning on making homemade baked potato soup tomorrow for another new recipe. Stay tuned for that one. :-)

First, let me say that I haven't eaten Taco Bell in probably 10 years. But my favorite food there that I used to eat was the Mexican Pizza. Yummmm. I decided to give it a try myself, hoping I don't feel as 'gross' after I eat it, like I did with Taco Bell. And the results: it was very good! Here's the recipe I used:

1 1/3 pounds ground turkey
1 package taco seasoning
1/3 cup water
6 (10-inch) flour tortillas
cooking spray
3 tablespoons chopped green onions
8 oz. refried beans
1 1/2 cups diced tomato (about 1 medium tomato)
3/4 cup taco sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar, but you could also probably use the Mexican cheese as well)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the ground turkey until brown. Drain.
Return to the heat and add the taco seasoning and water. Continue to cook for several minutes, stirring often.

Spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray and place directly on the middle oven rack. Bake for 6 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and crispy. Watch carefully so they do not burn. Remove from the oven and place on a baking sheet.

Then turn oven to 400 degrees.

Microwave the refried beans 30-60 seconds, or until spreadable.

Lay 3 tortillas out on baking sheets (I could fit 1-2 per sheet). Top each tortilla with 1/3 of the beans, 1/3 of the ground turkey mixture, and 1/4 cup cheese.

Top with another tortilla and press down lightly. Top the second tortilla with 1/4 cup taco sauce, 1/2 cup diced tomatos, 1/4 cup cheese and 1 tbsp. green onions.

Bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut into wedges. Can serve with sour cream or salsa if desired.

Here's the top of the pizza.



And here is my attempt to take a picture of the middle. Just trust me, it'd good.



We were having some company over for this, so to add another dish, I decided to give some Mexican Rice a try. I debated just going out a buying boxed Mexican Rice, but decided to give it a try on my own. And I'm glad I did! It was super easy and very good. Here's that recipe:

3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup uncookd long-grain rice
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. While rice is cooking, sprinkle with salt and cumin.

Stir in onions and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Fluff with a fork.