It's PUMPKIN Season!

We Had Ribs and then We Had Pancakes!

After a LONG week of working, working and more working, you know what I LOVE? Staying home on a Saturday doing nothing but EATING! Go ahead, call me a lazy pig...oink oink! I did manage to do some baking though in between the eating but later on that. We also discovered a new find at the grocery store, Tony Roma's Ribs. I was skeptical at first because I've never had much luck with restaurant branded food at home but I thought I'd try them out since they were on super sale. OMG, those ribs were amazing! I baked them in the oven and they came out super moist and tender. I also brushed a bit more BBQ sauce on top during the last 10 minutes since we like everything super saucy. I'm not sure I remember exactly what the ribs from Tony Roma's tasted like (it's been a while) but these were definitely restaurant-quality to say the least! MUST STOCK UP! Served with mashed potatoes (another store-bought wonder) and it was a fancy shmancy dinner at home!

Of course, because an entire rack of ribs wasn't enough food, we got hungry and decided to make Blueberry Pancakes for dessert (with fried eggs). YUM...FULL...

Now onto the baking part...I have been wanting to make Candy Corn Cookies for a LONG time and finally got down to making them. I think I was intimidated because there were a few more steps than I'm used to plus chilling time but you know what? They were SUPER easy and actually a lot of FUN to make! These are definitely going into my Halloween Goodies Bags!

Cards and Cupcakes!

Here are some of my latest creations. Hello Kitty His and Her Cupcakes and Birthday cards for my bosses. Aren't they lucky to have me? :)

A Couple of Cards

Here are a couple of recent cards I made for my lil cousin and my mom-in-law's bdays. (Can you guess which one goes to who? LOL) I'm entering the Sweet 16 one into ABC Challenge's National Children's Day. Well, I guess 16 still counts as a child right?

Cupcake Practicing!

I have a secret...I'm totally intimidated by the thought of making cupcakes so I've never made them before! Yes, me who bakes cookies EVERY week has never made a single cupcake in her life. NOT ANYMORE! I knew that the only way to face my fears was to start making cupcakes but where do I begin? I thought about using a store-bought cake mix and icing but that seemed like cheating. I knew I didn't want to make a dozen cupcakes either because I can't easily take them to work like cookies. After MUCH Googling, I found a recipe that makes only 2 cupcakes. (Actually I found several but this seemed the most promising!) So over the weekend, I decided to embark on my cupcake-making mission. First, I sprinkled the frosting with yellow sprinkles for a fun summer look. Next I dropped some pink food coloring into the frosting and sprinkled some hearts on top for a very cute lovey dovey look. They both tasted the same, sweet and more sweet, and I must say that I'm very proud of myself! There will be lots more cupcake-making practice to come until I find perfection!

Getting My PINK On!

If you know me, you know I LOVE pink so of course, I had to enter Dynamic Duo's Get Your Pink On Challenge. Also along with some super cute Pink Heart-shaped Sugar Cookies!

What I've Been Up to Lately...

I've been a bad blogger! Well, actually I've just been really busy and our dinners haven't been very exciting. I did, however, bake some very yummy cookies and make some very cute cards!

Dove Chocolate Creamy Cookies

White Chocolate Chip Nutella Cookies

This card I'm entering into ABC Challenge's Pattern Papers Challenge. Cute right?

Cards for my Coworkers

I made a couple of cards for some birthdays that are coming up for my coworkers.I'm entering the cute puppy one into Crafty Cardmaker's Cute and Furry Challenge. Gotta love a creative assistant right?

More Card Challenges!

Cute right? This card really makes me happy so I'm entering it into Let's Craft and Create's Colour Me Happy Challenge!

My FIRST Card Challenge!

This is my very FIRST Card Challenge and I'm entering this card in Dynamic Duo's Saffron (Yellow) and Pistachio (Green) Challenge. It was so much fun to make and I loved how I had to stick with just 2 colors because I tend to go a lil color-crazy sometimes! I hope they like it!

We LOVE Sriracha!

We LOVE Sriracha so much I get the big bottles and still can't seem to keep them around long enough. So when I came across this recipe for Sriracha Chicken, I knew I found a winner! The combination of the spicy, sweet and salty mixture was just perfect! I added some bell peppers and mushrooms for extra flavor and served my chicken over rice noodles. A quick and yummy weeknight dinner!

I Discovered Cheddar Cheese Soup!

I can't believe that after years of cooking with Cream of Mushroom Soup, I never discovered Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup until now! This isn't the ordered cheese flavor either. It's the Nacho Fiesta kind and it was PERFECT in tonight's Cheesy Beef and Bowties! Oh YEA! Talk about Sunday Night Done RIGHT!

Nothing Says "We Will Miss U" Like Shortbread Cookies!

I received a set of cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma a while ago called Message in a Cookie. Unfortunately I can't link it because the product is no longer available. :( They're basically a set of 3 cookie cutters in the shapes of a rectangle, a heart and a star. The unique thing about them is that they have a press where you can insert letters and make your own greetings. Tonight, I made "We Will Miss U" Cookies for our Farewell Interns Lunch tomorrow. The recipe is a simple Shortbread Cookie but of course, the key to any cutout cookie recipe is patience, which I don't really have. Do you KNOW how long 2 hours of dough chilling feels like to me? TOTALLY worth it though!

Just Ranching It!

If we lived in Hidden Valley, my hubby would still not eat veggies but Hidden Valley Ranch and sausage, now that's a winner! I also added some mushrooms to make it seem a bit healthier. :)

You'll NEVER Guess THIS Came from a BOX!

Does this meal look like it came from a box? I doubt it but it certainly started there! I took a box of Mac and Cheese and turned it into a gourmet meal with ground beef, mushrooms, chili flakes and just to take it over the top, a BIG FRIED EGG! OH YEA!

It's My Birthday!

Better late than never right? Here are a couple of pictures from my birthday back in June. The first is me and my gf's at Tres and the other is me, my mom and my hubby at MY China. Fun times!

Hillshire Farms...GO MEAT...I mean SAUSAGE!

We LOVE LOVE LOVE Coconut Curry and add some pineapples to the mix and I'm sold! Tonight we enjoyed a VERY yummy Coconut Curry Chicken Sausage Skillet served over rice noodles. (You can't really see the noodles under all that delicious sauce but trust me, we figured out how to get every last drop!)

We're Never Without Heinz!

My hubby LOVES Heinz Ketchup! I mean, he'll literally put it on anything and everything so we're never without an ample supply. That's why I knew any recipe featured on their website would be a winner like tonight's Beef and Zucchini Pasta except instead of zucchini, I added mushrooms instead. The verdict? As yummy as I expected if not more and yes, you can totally taste the ketchup!

Delmonte-Inspired Dinner

Tonight's dinner was inspired by Pineapple Chicken Stir-Fry from Delmonte's website. I just made a few minor changes like using Honey-Roasted Chicken Strips and adding mushrooms. I also served the chicken over rice noodles cuz my hubby LOVES that stuff!

Chicken Cordon Bleu in Pasta Form!

This is a recipe that I came up with using some of my favorite convenience items like Foster Farms Crispy Chicken Strips and Pasta Roni Shells. I'm also a big fan of the salad bar where I picked up cooked ham and mushrooms. VERY easy and totally tastes like Chicken Cordon Bleu!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp oil 
1/2 c cooked ham, diced
4 crispy chicken strips, chopped into bite-size 
1/2 c mushrooms, sliced
Pasta Roni Shells, cooked 
1/4 c Mozzarella cheese, shredded 
Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Prep: 

1. In a pan, heat oil on medium. Add ham, chicken and mushrooms. Cook until mushroom is softened.

2. Stir in pasta and Mozzarella and cook until cheese is melted. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Easy Beefy Mac and Cheesy!

Like my "Cheesy" title? LOL. Tonight we had a very easy but very yummy dinner. Delmonte's Beef Mac and Cheese featuring ground beef, Italian-style tomatoes and of course, lots of CHEESE! AND just for kicks, I added mushrooms too cuz that's just how I roll!

Cajun-Style Fettuccine

We LOVE Cajun flavors cuz well, it's SPICY! Ok, I'm sure this isn't authentic but I figured if I add paprika and cayenne, I'm getting close! Tonight's dinner features Fettuccine with grilled chicken, mushrooms and bell peppers. ALL that in less than 20 minutes. Not THAT'S impressive!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 c sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 c bell pepper, diced

1/4 c onion, diced

1 c diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Cooked chicken, cubed

Fettuccine, cooked

Prep:

1. In a pan, melt margarine over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, bell pepper and onion; cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

2. Stir in tomatoes, milk, paprika and cayenne. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.

3. Reduce heat. Cook uncovered 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in fettuccine and chicken. Cook uncovered until thoroughly heated. 

Ground Beef - Tagine Style!

My hubby LOVES ground beef so I'm always looking for new ways to cook with it. I found a recipe for Beef Tagine and couldn't wait to try it! I mean, right when I saw the words cinnamon, apricots and raisins, I was sold! We also really love couscous so this was a no-brainer. The verdict? INCREDIBLE! I left out the chickpeas because we're just not a fan but everything else was just perfect!

Not So Original Ranch Beef and Noodles Skillet

I came across this Ranch Beef and Noodles Skillet from Hidden Ranch and couldn't wait to try it. I mean, ground beef and Ranch Dressing? How can that NOT be good? Well, mine wasn't made with the Original Hidden Ranch (hence the Not So Original title) because I used the generic Safeway brand. (Hey, I'm cheap!) It turned out amazing! Creamy and flavorful and of course, I had to add a bit of a spicy kick with some Crushed Red Chili Flakes!

More Easy Dinners!

Here are 2 more very easy meals for our weeknight dinners. First up is Chicken Pasta-Roni with grilled chicken and mushrooms. Next is Mac and Cheese with Imitation Crab (our fav!). Dinner in less than 20 minutes. Can't beat that!

On A Ranch Kick Lately!

Raise your hand if you like Ranch Dressing. No keep it up if you like easy meals. Still there? Well, then let me introduce you to THE EASIEST and THE MOST AMAZING Pasta Sauce recipe in the world! Take a packet of Ranch Dressing Mix and add half a cup of milk and half a cup of sour cream. Stir and you're done. Really, it's that simple and it is the PERFECT sauce for pasta and whatever else you choose to put in. These 2 meals featured sausage in 1 and ham in the other and of course, mushrooms because we LOVE mushrooms!

Pasta-Roni to the Rescue!

Growing up, we never had Pasta-Roni (or Rice-a-Roni) at our house since my mom only cooked Asian food. I mean, we had American goodies like pizza and fried chicken, but none cooked at home. Actually, I think the only time I had pasta was when I ate frozen meals for lunch during summer breaks. (Hello, Stouffers!) Anyway, I was recently turned onto Pasta-Roni thanks to a huge sale at the grocery store and my new crazy work schedule. They're not as quick as frozen meals but definitely tastier! I also like how easy the pasta was to customized. Below are a few of the meals I've recently made.

Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Chicken

Macaroni and Cheese with Spicy Sausage

Cheesy Shells with Roasted Chicken

Quick and Easy Pad Thai at Home

We used to order Pad Thai all the time from our local Thai places but nowadays it's so easy to make my own and it's much faster than takeout too! (Plus, who know if those "No MSG" claims are real or not!) Anyway, here are 2 Pad Thai meals that I've made recently, 1 featuring ground beef and another with chicken. I like to add chopped veggies like bell peppers and mushrooms if I have them but the dish is yummy just with the meat and rice noodles. We like either chopped eggs mixed in or a fried egg on top. The sauce is essentially the same, a combo of fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and of course, Sriracha!

Easiest Dinner from the Fridge!

Some nights I just don't have the time or energy to deal with recipes so I turn to my fridge for ideas. Tonight was one of those nights. I opened my fridge and some spicy sausage stared back at me along with my usual onions and mushrooms. My house is never without canned tomatoes and dried pasta so a very quick and easy dinner was born. Gotta love a stocked kitchen!