cheater's chili

2 lbs ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 29 oz can tomato sauce
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
4 tbsp chili powder-or more to taste
3 cans pinto beans-undrained
6 chocolate kisses

-brown beef & onion in olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat
-drain & return to pot stir in tomato sauce, tomatoes, chili powder & kisses cook over low heat for 1/2 hour, stir every now & again
-add beans and cook until heated about another 20 minutes or so

Serve with some fresh corn bread or fritos-the big dipping ones of course!
taken from a food television show that I don't think is on anymore they would go to person's houses and watch them cook their special dish

lemon chicken

4 thin sliced boneless chicken breasts
salt & pepper
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 lemon juice-use fresh I used almost 2 lemons which was more than 1/4 cup
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp flour

-mix flour, salt & pepper in a baggie, shake chicken in flour mixture
-heat 1 tbsp butter with 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet
-cook chicken breast about 4 minutes on each side transfer to a plate
-add lemon juice broth and 1 tbsp flour to pan bring to boil stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. Boil about 5 minutes
-return chicken to pan and warm
-serve with broccoli and one of the Knorr pasta mixes from Lipton I think

pasta with clam sauce

not really involved or much of a recipe actually but a quick favorite at our house

-pasta cooked-spaghetti at our house
-1 can Campbell's chunky clam chowder
-salt & pepper
-1 tbsp flour or bisquick
-1 tin of clams drained

combine soup, flour & drained clams heat-salt & pepper to taste
serve over pasta

tortellini soup

4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 package fresh 9 oz tortellini-use whatever floats your boat I found a great one with chicken & mushroom at Target
1 can cannellini beans or navy beans rinsed & drained
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1/2 cup shredded fresh basil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
shredded Parmesan cheese

-boil broth
-add tortellini boil for about 5 minutes
-stir in beans, basil and tomato salt & pepper to taste
-reduce heat & simmer uncovered for 5 minutes
-add balsamic vinegar
-serve with cheese
great with a loaf of french bread & some red wine

chicken & pears

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts-about 1 lb.
2 Bosc pears, unpeeled, cored & cut into 8 wedges
1 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp cornstarch
1tbsp olive oil plus 1 tsp olive oil
sat & pepper to taste

-heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium heat until hot
-add chicken and cook about 12 minutes turning at least once
-transfer chicken to plate
-add remaining oil to pan and cook pear wedges 3-4 minutes until lightly browned & tender
-mix broth, vinegar & cornstarch then add to skillet with pears. heat to boiling then boil for 1 minute.
-return chicken to plate and heat through.

got this one from a magazine-don't remember which one at this point but it was fantastic with rice and a salad. I used an dash or tow of pepper but honestly did not add any salt as the broth added enough salty flavor flavor to the dish.

yet another blog

so evidently I am addicted to blogs this one will be about recipes and cooking. I really wanted to call it not-martha but that's already taken why am I not surprised?
I can not claim all the recipes to be my own but I will give credit where credit is due I like to try new recipes and have gotten to the point in my cooking where I can make them my own. Before I was married I lived on coffee and cigarettes but once we said the I dos I was convinced I needed to serve dinner every night and with the addition of a boy who can eat well I do a lot of cooking. My cooking has improved greatly since I first got married I was a by the book recipe cooker. Not a grain of salt that was not listed in the recipe got into my food. My husband who is a fantastic cook-when I can get him to cook-pushed me to be a bit more daring and actually taste my food before serving it.
I am not a food snob by any stretch of the imagination I am not above serving fish sticks & fries for dinner and yes I actually like Hamburger Helper.
Always looking for new recipes to try so please feel free to share!