My Garlic Mashed Potatoes

One of the simplest but most comforting foods is mashed potatoes! But not just plain ole mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes. I made up this recipe a couple years ago and they are the only mashed potatoes I ever make now. It's also one of my husband's favorite side dishes. A word of caution about this recipe though...I don't really measure anything. The measurents are my estimation on how much of each thing I actually put in. I mostly go by look and taste. We had these potatoes tonight along with barbecue chicken breasts and green beans. It was a wonderful meal.

My Garlic Mashed Potatoes

4-5 medium red potatoes, washed and cut into cubes, skin on
1/4-1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1-1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until fork tender. Drain water off and place potatoes in a bowl. Add milk, butter, lemon juice, and garlic powder. Mash potatoes with a potato masher or a mixer to remove any lumps. Add grated parmesan cheese and parsley and stir into the potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

So it's been a while since I've updated my blog. Things have been so hectic around here and we've pretty much been fending for ourselves. I was exhausted tonight but decided I should cook anyway. My friend Elly sent me some orzo, since I'm so sheltered and had never tried it, so I decided to make that tonight. I saw this recipe on allrecipes.com and had saved it a week or so ago. Then I saw it on someone elses' blog too and decided to try it. It was very easy and very good! I think I've found a new food that I love!

Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.
2. Stir in chicken stock and bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 - 20 minutes.
3. Mix in Parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to shallow bowl. Garnish with basil sprigs.

* I didn't have any chicken broth on hand so I just used 14.5 oz of water and added some salt. We had this with some grilled chicken and peas.

Original source: allrecipes.com

Quesadilla Night!

I always end up with a few left over tortillas that I don't know what to do with and usually end up tossing them after a while. Well I found a use for my two left over tortillas by making quesadillas. This was the first time I've made them and if I do say so they turned out great! I also made taco rice from a Cooking Light recipe for taco rice salad to go with them.




Chicken Quesadillas

1 large chicken breast (pre-cooked, seasoned with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes) shredded-you could really use any left over baked chicken you have
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup mexican blend shredded cheese-I just used the bagged kind
2 large flour tortillas

Spray a pan with non-stick spray and saute peppers and onions until tender, about 5-7 min. Remove from pan and set aside. Again, spray the pan with non-stick spray and place one tortilla in the pan. Add a 1/4 cup of cheese, a layer of shredded chicken, and 1/2 cup of the pepper/onion mixture to one half of the tortilla. Add 1/4 cup cheese on top of that. Fold the other half of the tortilla over. Flip tortilla over once to ensure the cheese melts all the way through. Remove from pan. Repeat with second tortilla. Cut into triangles and serve.

Taco Rice

3 cups cooked yellow rice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cook rice as directed on the package. Add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Use a fork to fluff rice and mix in seasonings.

Original recipe from Cooking Light-
http://tinyurl.com/32dc5v