A broke woman's blog.

This night here my dad waited until 6 o'clock to decide what he wanted to eat. Oh gosh my wheels were spinning lol. I hate it when somebody decides when it's almost time for bed to want me to cook. Well anyway, I went a head and played the polite hostess and fixed him spaghetti and garlic bread like he wanted. If you are ready I am ready!

Mise En Place

Hamburger meat
Spaghetti sauce
Onions
Bell peppers
Mushrooms
Spaghetti
Butter
Garlic powder
Bread
Shredded cheese
Seasoning


1. Put hamburger meat in skillet and let it brown.
2. Cut onion and bell pepper in half. Clean the seeds out of bell pepper. Wash off onion and bell pepper, dice them up and put them in the hamburger meat.
3. Add seasoning and mushrooms.
4. While the hamburger meat is cooking boil some water for the spaghetti. Once it starts to boil add the spaghetti and cook it for about 12 - 15 minutes. You don't want you spaghetti mushy.
5. Once the spaghetti and meat is done strain them both. Leave just a little bit of water at the bottom of the pot so the spaghetti won't get dry. Or put in a little bit of oil. Now preheat the oven to 350.
6. Open the spaghetti sauce and pour it over the meat and let it simmer.
7. Get some butter and sprinkle some garlic powder in it.
8. Get your bread and paint the butter sauce on it. Add some cheese!
9. Put it in the oven until the cheese melts.
10. Serve it up and eat!

Ha ha! It's my day to cook.....Let me see. Today I made some lasagna, cheesy garlic bread and a spinach and tomato basil salad. I haven't cooked lasagna in about a year. We had went to Detroit and my little cousin wanted me to cook her some. So I cooked her some but I had used rotini pasta. I try to do things different at times. But today I just used the regular lasagna noodles. My girls and I went to the store and got everything we needed the night before and I forgot the french bread. So I had to use what I had to make the garlic bread......hot dog buns lol. Well it worked! You learn to improvise. After everything was cooked and we dug in lol. My lasagna fell apart on me but it's okay. It was still good! Okay are you ready? Well here we go. Remember, cook according to your needs.

Spinach and tomato basil salad

4 large tomatoes
1/2 purple onion (to your liking)
1/2 bunch fresh basil (to your liking)
1/2 teaspoon of salt (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon of pepper (to taste)
2 oz. red wine vinegar
hand full of spinach

1. Rinse off tomatoes, spinach and basil.
2. Let basil and spinach dry while you slice the tomatoes.
3. Slice the ends of and cut the tomatoes a 1/4 inch thick from side to side.
4 Lay the slices flat and cut into 1/2 inch medium dice.
5. Put them in a mixing bowl.
6. Cut your onion in 1/4 inch small dice.
7. Put onion in the bowl also.
8. Chop up the basil to YOUR liking and sprinkle it over the mixture.
9. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste.
10. Add spinach.
11. Add about 2 oz. of the red wine vinegar.
12. Stir it and let it marinate.
13. Taste it and if you need to add something more, do so.


Lasagna Bree's way!!!!!

Hamburger
Sausage
Medium onion
Medium bell pepper
Minced garlic
Tomato sauce
Sour cream (optional)
Cottage cheese (optional)
Corn (optional)
Shredded cheese (any kind)
Lasagna
Seasoning (optional because of the sausage)


1. Cut the ends and hull off onion. Diced onion very small.
2. Cut ends and top off bell pepper. Rinse off and dice it very small.
3. Mince garlic.
4. Saute the onions, garlic and bell pepper for about 2 minutes then add hamburger and sausage.
5. While that is cooking, boil your water for the lasagna.
6. Once meat is done drain all the fat off.
7. Add lasagna to the water. Stir it around a little bit so it won't stick. Cook it for about 12-15 minutes. The reason is you want your noodles al dente (half done because when you bake the lasagna your noodles won't be mushy).
8. After the fat has drained off put the meat back in the pot and add your tomato sauce.
9. Add some sour cream to the mixture and let it cook down.
10. After your 12-15 minutes turn your pot off on your lasagna and quickly pull them out and layer them on the bottom of your pan.
11. Layer your meat mixture, cottage cheese, corn, cheese and lasagna until you run out.
12. Put in oven on 350 for about 15 minutes.


Cheesy garlic bread

Hot dog buns
Garlic powder
Butter
Shredded cheese

1. Spoon out how much butter out you think you will need in a bowl and put it in the microwave until it starts to melt.
2. Add some garlic powder to taste.
3. Drizzle over hot dog buns.
4. Sprinkle cheese over buns and bake for about 5 minutes so they won't get hard.

Source: Bree

You know a Sunday would not be a Sunday if I didn't get in the kitchen and cook. So here is how my day started. I went to the store at 9:30. I really didn't want to go but with hungry family members to feed I reckon I had to. Let's see, I grabbed some green and red cabbage, augratin potatoes, carrots, bacon, and sweet potatoes. The agenda for today's dinner was a roast, baked pork chops, cabbage, augratin potatoes with carrots and sweet potatoes. For dessert, I made an apple shortcake. Did I say that I made a tip for cooking? A friend of the family gave me a $10 tip for fixing him and his family a plate! Uh huh...a tip for me. Let the cooking begin!!!!!!!!!

Roast or pork chops

Roast or pork chops
Chopped basil
Chopped chives
Baby carrots
Seasonings

1. Wash your meat off and carrots.
2. Season them with your seasoning, basil and chives.
3. Pop in the oven and cook to your liking.

Cabbage

Green or red cabbage
Bacon
Seasonings

1. Fry your bacon in a skillet or pan.
2. Cut up cabbage and rinse it off while bacon is cooking.
3. When bacon is done cooking pour off some off the grease.
4. Add cabbage, seasonings, and a 1/4 cup of water to bacon.
5. Cook to your liking.

Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes
Butter
Brown sugar
White sugar
Cinnamon


1. Rinse sweet potatoes off and peel off the skin.
2. Cut them up a ¼ inch thick cross ways the sweet potato. They cook quicker when sliced thin.
3. Rinse them off.
4. In a medium sauce pan put enough water to coat the bottom of it.
5. Add sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon.
6. Let the sweet potatoes cook and simmer in the juice.
7. Taste the juice to see if it’s sweet enough and taste the potato to see if it’s done enough for you.
8. Once they are the way you like them serve them.

Augratin potatoes

Buy a box of augratin potatoes and read the directions!

Source: Bree

You already know what today is. It's Sunday and it's my turn to cook. Well see here is the problem.......I went to the store last night to get what I wanted to cook for dinner. I wanted baked chicken covered with cream of mushroom, mashed potatoes, corn and cornbread. My stepdad had other plans. He baked some ribs. All I can say is mmmmmm delicious. Well I woke up to him yelling, "Are you going to finish dinner." How could I say no! We had baked ribs, mashed potatoes, corn, fruit salad, and a cake. I had my tummy ready for that baked chicken! What's so funny about it is that he LOVES chicken but he wanted ribs. Oh well. I shall have it one day. But all I want to know is are you ready to cook? Well let's hit the kitchen!

Ribs

Ribs (beef or pork)
Bay leaves
Seasoning

1. Cut your ribs up and wash them off.
2. Season them really good to where you can smell your seasoning.
3. Get a roasting pan and put the bay leaves at the bottom.
4. Put ribs in the pan and let them cook to your desired finish.
5. You can pour off the fat or leave it in the pan so your ribs aren’t dry.

Mashed potatoes

I do not measure butter or milk. So use it at your discretion.

Box of potato buds
Butter
Milk
Water

1. Boil water and add a dash of salt in it.
2. Put buds in a plastic bowl or mixing bowl.
3. Add water, butter and milk.
4. If you like a lot of butter add more.
5. Use a mixer to mix all the contents together.
6. Whatever more you need add it.
7. Potatoes should come out fluffy like a cloud!

Corn

Can of corn

1. Clean off top of can.
2. Open can.
3. Put corn in a pot and heat them up.
4. Once heated you may eat!

Chocolate cake
Any chocolate cake mix will do

1. Read the directions!
2. Once cooled cut cake in half horizontally.
3. Put icing and whatever topping you want in between the layers.
4. Do the same on top layer.
5. Put in fridge and let chill for about an hour and serve!



Fruit salad

5 large strawberries
1 Granny Smith apple
1 Red apple
½ peach
10 medium sized seedless grapes

1. Cut up strawberries in small dices ¼ in x ¼ in x ¼ inor close to it.
2. Slice apples in half down the middle.
3. Turn apple on flat side and cut in ¼ in halves.
4. Turn them on flat side again, cut down the middle and turn them horizontally.
5. Cut them in ¼ in squares.
6. Do the peach the same way but only half of it.
7. Put fruit in a bowl and put in grapes.
8. Mix the fruit and refrigerate.
9. When ready to eat put a teaspoon of cream cheese topping and eat up!

Source: TJ (my stepdad) and Bree

Hellur, this is my other homemade pizza I promised. This is made with a fool proof crust that you CAN'T mess up. If you do then hang up your apron! I always wanted to make my crust homemade and I found a site that had a recipe for homemade crust for dummies like me........well not dummies but those of us who um, try but don't succeed well in homemade dough or crust. Well here it is like a promised.


Crust

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 c. water


Toppings

1 onion
1 bell pepper
Hamburger meat (browned)
Cajun turkey
Mesquite turkey
Canadian bacon
Shredded cheese
2 tablespoons of butter
Garlic salt or powder
Tomato sauce


1. Mix flour, salt, baking powder and water.
2. Knead on floured counter just until workable and spreadable, about 2 minutes.
3. Roll out your dough, put it in a pan and spread it out evenly. I used a 15x9 cookie sheet.
4. Melt butter and put garlic salt or powder in it to taste. Spread over your crust. If more is needed add it.
5. Cut up onions and bell peppers finely.
6. Cover crust with tomato sauce then layer it with meat, onions, and cheese.
7. Pop it in the oven on 425 for 20 minutes.
8. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
9. Now you can eat!


Source: Cooks.com (crust) and Bree