365 days-Day 6 Dinner at Parentals

Yea I did not have to cook tonight. It was birthday dinner for my awesome sister Jen who I love. Mom cooked basically thanksgiving dinner. Jen loves turkey so we had turkey and mashed taters, green beans, jello, and homemade rolls. Mmmmmmmm. I needed a break already from all the cooking. Now its time to look up some new yummy recipes.

365 days-Day 5 Smoked Beef Brisket Chili

Today was super fun. I got a text at about 8:05 from my neighbor telling me she was leaving at 8:25 for a 5k that I recall saying I would run as long as I wasn't pregnant. My tummy was not excited about that but Chad convinced me it would be a good idea. I did a lot better than my only other 5k and was under 40 minutes. Then the doggies played with their best friend for awhile and then I went to work which wasn't so fun. After that though I made this Chili and then got to hang with Chad while it simmered.

So tonight I made Chili from the leftover smoked beef brisket that Chad smoked last Sunday. I am no longer eating beef but Chad says it was awesome. It won an award at the chili competition at Church tonight. I didn't get best overall :( If you are interested in the recipe I mostly followed this one from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7abwxuzieyg&noredirect=1

After the Chili had simmered for about 2 hours we headed over to Church for trunk or treat. It was pretty fun cause we brought the dogs since it really normally is not that exciting since we don't have kids. The dogs were a hit. Max was a turtle and Shelby was a bumblebee. So stinking cute. I've had lots of fun. This can officially be labeled a good day.

365 days-Day 4 Bacon & Cheese Quiche and Kickin Collards

Tonight's dinner was the above Quiche and Kickin' Collard Greens. Here are the recipes:

http://www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/easy-dinner-recipes-week-one.html

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/kickin-collard-greens/detail.aspx

I did it wrong and started the greens first thinking they would take longer and then started the quiche. If you cook these together start the quiche and work on the greens once it is in the oven.

It was also a little more work than I thought it would be. Nothing difficult but it took awhile to get it all together for the quiche.

Chad says this one is a keeper. I really don't like veggies much but the collards suprised me by not sucking and being edible. Would have been even better probably if they hadn't sat in my fridge for over a week before I cooked them. The quiche was delish. If there was anything wrong it was TOO rich and had too much bacon I think. Will definatly try a quiche again since this was my first.

365 days-Day 3 Basalmic Chicken with Baby Greens and Sun-Dried Tomato Gnocci

Here is a link to tonight's recipe. I have fallen in love with the idea of Publix's Apron meals. For those who don't know about Publix it is a very nice grocery chain in the southeast. They have cooking demonstrations and then all the ingredients you need to make the meal right next to the demo area.

http://www.publix.com/aprons/meals/MainDish/SimpleMeal.do?mealId=74&mealGroupId=1004

They also have a list of all their recipes on their website:

http://www.publix.com/aprons/meals/MainDish/RecipeList.do

They are very easy to make and usually under 30 min total prep and cooking. Awesome. Not all are good or healthy but I really liked tonight's dinner. Chad agreed it was a winner. I would say out of 5 stars: hummmm 4. It might make it into the rotation after this is all said and done. Here are what my finished product looked like.

365 days-Day 2 Enchiladas?

Okay so today I kind of cheated. This sweet little old Mexican lady who likes to rub my tummy to try to make me be able to have babies came and brought Dr. Poole what she said were enchiladas. These were more like small quesadillas with a corn tortilla. I just had to cook them in the pan to crisp up the outside and melt the cheese inside. Got home too late to make the original dinner plan which was gonna take over and hour. Too long when you get home at 7:30. These turned out to be yummy but a little/lot bit unhealthy.

This is dessert. The Mexican lady's daughter brought this to Dr. Poole last week and we can't bring ourselves to eat this pretty jello art. I want to save it forever. How long does jello last?

365 days-Day 1 BBQ stuffed potatoes

I hate cooking dinner for the record. Reasons why: I work full time and I don't feel like I have the time, I never recall volunteering to cook every night, and three I feel very unappreciated when I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and no one can even bother to help me clean up. That said I am challenging myself to change it up. I have problem: I only like to make things I know how to make and new recipes exhaust me before I even get started. Enter new Julie. I am going to cook something new every night for the next 365 days. Granted we go out to eat and eat with friends but every meal in my house will be different. After this is done I will have 365ish new dinner ideas and lots of new things I know how to make. I am counting tonight because we have never ate this but tonight was BBQ chicken stuffed potatoes. So they were not a hit but oh well. You win some you lose some. Accompanying the potatoes we has fresh steamed broccoli and broiled asparagus. Yeah I know sounds boring and yucky. I had a LONG crappy day.