Becoming Betty Crocker: One Pan Chicken and Potato Bake

Oh, I didn't know what to make tonight for dinner!  I had already left chicken out from this week's grocery trip, so knew it had to be chicken but no idea past that.  Actually, I did have an idea - Italian dressing. That was the end of it though.

Off to Pinterest!  This recipe caught my eye because we already had everything AND it had the Italian Dressing I was thinking of as an ingredient!

This recipe was super easy.  Cut the potatoes, put in the chicken, season with the dressing, cheese & seasoning and DONE.

Ready for the oven

 

Ready to eat!

The chicken was really juicy.  The potatoes though could have been cooked longer.  The recipe called for thin wedges, but I think next time I will just cut them thinner (like fries or slices).  Not all of the potatoes had seasoning so maybe season the potatoes separate from the chicken with a little extra.

Still, hubby liked it and I was ok with it (loved that it was easy).  I haven't been really had a taste for chicken lately so I've been struggling with how to make chicken that I will "crave".

Becoming Betty Crocker: Cheerios Banana Muffins

So I went to Harris Teeter this week for groceries and they had a bag of bananas for $1 (again).  Last time I made frozen banana with peanut butter sandwiches.

These snacks were for both humans and pups!

I checked out some other banana recipes in Pinterest and found Cheerios Banana Oatmeal muffins.  I even pulled up Pinterest when I was in the store to make sure I had all of the ingredients.

These were easy to make and I had so many bananas that I did a double batch.

Crushed Cheerios - found out that if you start in the corner of the baggy,

it's much easier to crush them

The rolling pin was my mom's - I don't know how old this is, but it's solid glass and still works well!

The dry mixture

smashed bananas

 

Confession:  I think this was the first time I ever used my (formerly my mom's) potato smasher.  BTW - is that the right term for this utensil?

 

 

I love my dough - so of course, the pups had to try it.

Esa was all for it.  I think she has a sweet tooth.

Zed wasn't sure at first, but then liked it.

Finished product!

 

These were really good - and I'm sharing with my friend, Michelle, and friend/neighbor +Stephanie Segall.  Hubby doesn't really care for bananas so 24 muffins is a lot for one person, so I was planning on sharing.  I might even put some in the freezer.

 

The one thing I wasn't happy about was them sticking to the bottom of the wrapper - what's up with that?  I know it mentioned spraying the pan in the recipe, but I didn't think you had to spray wrappers!  I thought it was if you didn't use wrappers, you had to spray! 

 

Note:  I did not eat the wrapper (it's to the left)

 

Whatever - use your teeth and pull that good stuff off, Michelle & Stephanie!

Side note:  This recipe is from The Chew.  Yes, I know I'm home all day, but I don't watch a lot of TV (unless it's a lazy day or it's an Law & Order marathon).  I found out about all of the different talk shows through my brother.  He watched all of the talk shows and when I was visiting, I found out about them.  He would have liked these muffins. <3

Becoming Betty Crocker: Fresh Apple Crisp

Let me just say, I HATE it when people post recipes on Facebook. 

Facebook is NOT for posting recipes - PINTEREST is.  Now, I know, not everyone has a Pinterest account and your Facebook account is your account and you can post whatever you want in your feed. 

That being said there have been some good recipes posted on Facebook.  When I see something that catches my eye, I go find it on the internet (usually on Pinterst) and pin it on my recipe board on Pinterest.

I bought a bag of apples about 2 weeks ago and I might have ate 1 or 2, so I wanted to get rid of them before they went bad.

Which leads me to this recipe - Fresh Apple Cake.  I will say the picture is misleading compared to the recipe text.  It says granny smith apples in the text, but we KNOW those are not granny smith in the pictures - and it says peel the apple - those apples have the peel on!  Anyway, this is a better picture and description of what you will end up with.  I say that because I thought I was going to have a Pinterest fail.  I thought, how can this be right?  The recipe says CAKE - this is not turning into a cake.  Crisp!  That's the right definition!  Another pinner says that you can use other fruit too (ie peaches).

This recipe is WAY easy - except for maybe the peeling of the apples - that was a pain - but not too bad.

apples peeled

Apples layered in the pan

cake mix sprinkled on

Cinnamon & sugar sprinkled on

The final product

Close up - this is why I thought it was a Pinterest fail.

Wasn't sure if the dry mix was supposed to still be there.

Needless to say - SUCCESS!  We had it with ice cream last night and I just had some for a morning snack (warmed up of course!).

Becoming Betty Crocker: Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie

I posted this to Pinterest a few weeks ago and it looked good.  I even had a friend comment that she makes it at least once a month.  Time for me to try it.

BOY WAS THIS EASY and GOOD!

I think I have had this pie before, but I don't remember when or where.  I do know that we had Cheeseburger Pot Pie that was similar.

meat with onions covered with cheese

 

Hubby helped out since I was behind on cooking.

 

The Bisquick mixture poured in.

 

The finished product.

 

I will definitely make this again - very, very easy & very, very good.

The Housewife Tour: What's been going on & some ranting

Let me get the ranting done first. 

You know my game of using coupons and sales to get the best price.  Do you ever feel like you REALLY need to watch what the cashier is doing to make sure you get every single coupon?  That's what I have felt like lately.  I guess it's because we are really watching pennies right now (that's coming up).  I need to create a system where I know how many and how much each coupon is.  It's stupid that I need to do this, but the cashiers are messing up my game!  Never mind the fact that I need to remind them to deduct the reusable bag discount (which I forgot this time).  I leave the store feeling I was taken advantage of because someone didn't do their job correctly.  Yes, I could go and say, I don't think all of my coupons were deducted but is $3 worth the time of me complaining and them pulling the cashier's drawer?  So, I need to be proactive.  Next is how?  Do I have a running excel sheet (or just a list) of the items and the cost & coupons I have?  Luckily, I usually go shopping when it's slow so I can take my time.  It's just going to be a lot of work, but I guess if it will make me feel like I'm getting the best deal, it will be worth it.

So back to "watching pennies now".  My husband is a government employee.  He is one of the few that isn't furloughed, which means he does have go to into work.  He will definitely get his next paycheck, but the timing on the next paycheck is questionable.  That is because the people who process paychecks are furloughed.  I feel bad for the people who are furloughed, but they are getting a paid vacation.  No matter when they go back to work, they will get their full paycheck for the time they were off (BTW - that is why the Pentagon pulled their civilians back to work).  To me, that is not fair to the people who did work.  What about giving them 80% of their paycheck (or whatever percentage a person gets when they are on short term disability)?

With the paycheck issue up in the air, plus the end of the housewife tour (September was the "goal" to start looking for a job), time for me to make some money. 

The first way, is helping a friend out and giving some social time to the pups.  The "E-Z Dog Care" business is open!  My friend, Michelle, and her husband got a (pit) puppy last week and I offered to watch her during the day.  Today is the 2nd day, so still in the get to know each other stage, but the pups are doing well with her.  They give her the warning growls when she's a little too much in their face.  It also reminds me that I will not get  a puppy again.  FYI - the business name is a joke - I would only watch a dog for a friend.

The 2nd way will be starting soon and will pull from my skills at my previous job.  I will be editing secret shops for the company that used to do our customer service training at the airport.  More than likely, I will be editing airport shops since I know what to look for in the shops.  I've know the owners of this company for as long as I was at my previous job (14 years), and always had a good relationship with them.  When we were closing up shop, they mentioned to me to call them if I needed anything and if I wanted to do editing/work with them.  How great it feels that someone "offers" me a job.  This will also help with the next big adventure.....

I am starting my own business!  Over the years, I have heard and thought about becoming a virtual assistant.  Now is the time!  I will be specializing in social media but will be open to administrative work.

Business licenses are all in order for Clark Virtual Business Solutions.  Now the real works comes - getting the business!  I have created a business plan and let me just say, it has really helped me with my ideas.  At first I didn't think I needed one, but boy does it help! 

I think that brings us up to date.  Now, to work on the business.

Becoming Betty Crocker: Campbell's Slow Cooker Sauces

So you know I am all about the coupons and trying something new if I can get it at a good price with sales & a coupon.  That was the deal with Campbell's Slow Cooker Sauces last week.  They were on sale at Giant for $2 and I had a coupon for $1/2.  $1.50 each - not bad!  All you do is add the meat and this week pot roast was half price!  BINGO!

I purchased Tavern Style Pot Roast & Sweet Korean BBQ (the only products Giant had).  First up, Tavern Style Pot Roast.

Talk about easy - add meat to the crockpot and pour the sauce on it.  DONE.  No pictures of the final product, but let me just say, it was good!  Hubby liked it too.  We had baked potatoes with it and I put the sauce/gravy on mine.  YUMMY!

Note:  I tried to find a website for this product, but didn't find one on the Campbell's website.