I’ve been craving tater tot casserole for a few weeks now. Probably because that’s one of the few dishes I actually know how to make. LOL I had to grocery shop today so I decided I’d give the whole cooking thing another go. Yeah mark it on the calendar I actually cooked.

It was supposed to be I’d cook the casserole for dinner but I didn’t feel like putting everything away after shopping only to have to get it all out again later. So I thought hmmm I’ll cook it now, have some for lunch and then reheat it for dinner, Caleb will never know. Hey just being efficient and all

I’d like to say that it hit the spot after craving it for a few weeks. But unfortunately it didn’t. There was too much cheese (I didn’t want to waste the stuff that was left & instead of being brilliant enough to realize I could use it for something else I decided to just dump it all on the casserole). I used sharp cheese and I don’t care for the taste of sharp cheese. And it was just really bland tasting   It just didn’t hit the spot and I’m oh so disappointed!

But hey at least I didn’t burn it and it looked 1/4 way decent (can’t even say it looked 1/2 way decent cause honestly it doesn’t).

So anyways…take a look at the picture below and tell me you understand now why I DON’T cook!

And for those of you that have been reading my blog long enough to know about my pet peeve with bread crumbs in the butter…can you imagine if I wanted to eat BURNT toast how many CRUMBS that would leave in my butter? The mere thought of that makes me shiver. YUCK.

I think R doesn’t know what she’s gotten herself into. She’s convinced that after 6 weeks I’ll not only know my way around the kitchen & understand a recipe but I’ll be a pro at cooking. I’d say unless she’s a miracle worker this might be a pretty tall order to fill! Seriously. I mean I’m the girl that put a hot dog in the microwave for 5 minutes and couldn’t figure out why it was hard as a rock & black as charcoal. I’m the girl that has melted a strainer because I turned the oven on not remembering I had put dishes in there. I’m the girl that burns pop tarts.

But hey if she’s convinced I’ll not only know what I’m doing but be good at it in just 6 short weeks then I’m all for it. Besides this I really do gotta see. I’m convinced there is no way that 6 weeks is enough time to teach me everything I need to know.

Next week she’s actually going to MAKE me cook! Already? Seriously. You’ve got to be kidding me!

Well I guess it’s time to go – I need to program the fire department into speed dial on my phone

I’ve already shared my lack of expertise in the kitchen so I won’t mention that again Now aside from lacking skills in the kitchen I always face the challenge of having a very very limited grocery budget (when you go from having food stamps for 3 years to taking yourself off them – yes I am the one that made the decision to get off them, it wasn’t because I met the income limit & wasn’t eligible anymore, it was because I was tired of living off the government and ready to stand on my own two feet!). Thankfully it’s easier to feed two people on a limited budget than a larger family.

This week on Family Foodies, Sandra is talking about desperate cooking and feeding your family some healthy meals on a low budget!

Can you imagine making 13 meals without grocery shopping? Sandra did it! She obviously had to pick up your ‘basic’ items over the next couple weeks like bread and milk but aside from that she did not shop! She made all these meals out of what was already in her house.

I’m not all that interested in one of the recipes she shared, the spinach quiche but there were two that struck my fancy; the oven baked omelet and ham & cheese croissants. Below I’ve listed those two recipes.

Oven Baked Omelet

4 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
3 slices of American cheese
¾ C milk
Dash pepper

Arrange cheese slices to cover bottom of sprayed, 8” pie dish.
Beat together eggs, milk, pepper with fork; add bacon.
Pour over cheese.
Bake for 30 min @ 350 F. Let stand few minutes before serving

Ham and Cheese Croissants

(Great for breakfast, lunch or snacks. Can be assembled night prior for breakfast.)

Lay 2 slices ham and 1 slice cheese on each sliced croissant.
Wrap in tin foil. Heat in oven.

The battle has begun! I’m in it to win it. Kelly McCausey has started a war amongst the WAHM blog world and I’m not against pulling hair and scratching to get my hands on that chocolate!!!! Actually I’m even sending good luck wishes to my competition! hehehehe.

One of my goals for 2008 was to start learning my way around the kitchen more. Sure I know some basic recipes but honestly that’s about as far as my skill set goes – not good considering men love to eat and I plan on marrying eventually.

Family Foodies, with Sandra Jensen, has been my source of inspiration so far. This week on Family Foodies, Sandra is sharing a couple simple soup recipes but the one I’m most interested in is the Chicken Noodle soup. Check out how simple the recipe is (simple is right up my alley!)

Super Simple Chicken Noodle Soup

(It doesn’t get much easier than this short-cut recipe!)

In 4-quart pot, heat together

2 C cooked chicken meat
60 oz canned chicken broth
1 C carrots, sliced (I use more)
1 C celery, sliced
¼ C onion, chopped (I use more)

Bring to a boil, and then simmer 10 min.

Bring back up to a boil, add 2 C egg noodles, and cook ‘til noodles are tender.

That really is simple! I’m adding the ingredients to my list of shopping items needed for next week.

The battle has begun! I’m in it to win it. Kelly McCausey has started a war amongst the WAHM blog world and I’m not against pulling hair and scratching to get my hands on that chocolate!!!!