Becoming Betty Crocker: Chicken & Roasted Potatoes

This week has been hard figuring out what to make for dinner.  I really wanted to try something new, but didn't see what I would need before going to the grocery store.  I have been busy getting for the end of the housewife tour (that's another story), so didn't want to run out again.

I scrolled through my Pinterest Recipe board and picked Chicken & Roasted Red Potatoes.  I had all of the fixings - sort of.  Here's what I changed out:

• Red Potatoes = Russett Potatoes
• Ranch Dressing = Blue Cheese Dressing
• Chicken Thighs = Chicken Breasts
• 4 slices of regular bacon = one package of turkey bacon
• triple cheese with philly = 3 cheese mexican

OK - so I basically substituted all of the ingredients!  It doesn't matter because this came out GREAT!  Hubby had not only seconds, but thirds!  I haven't seen that in awhile!

First time making bacon in the skillet!
Came out much better than in the microwave!

Potatoes, onions and bacon

 

Chicken marninated in Blue Cheese Dressing on top

Pre cheese topping

 

The finished product!

This was really easy to make and I will defintely make it again.  Plus, like I said - Hubby really liked it.  That's all that really matters.

Becoming Betty Crocker: Loaded Twice Baked Potato Casserole

So quite awhile ago, I picked up some Progresso Recipe Starters.  Tonight I FINALLY used one of the Creamy Three Cheese cans that I picked up.

I checked out Progresso.com for a good recipe (and something that we already had everything for) and came up with Loaded Twice Baked Potato Casserole. Now, let me just say, that I'm not big on scalloped potatoes.  I don't know why, but I'm not.  But, I was willing to try this recipe out.  I cook for hubby anyway, and he likes scalloped potatoes.

This recipe was really easy, but I did do some things differently.  The recipe said to use packaged potatoes - I used real potatoes & sliced them up.  It also said to use 6 strips of bacon - I'm sure they meant real bacon, but I used turkey bacon AND the whole package.

Step one - Recipe Starter & sour cream

I do not suggest cooking turkey bacon in the microwave.  It is stiff as a board

 

But works great for crumbling it up!

 

Ready for baking.

The end product.

If you use real potatoes (not pre-packaged), I suggest cooking for longer than 30 minutes.  The potatoes were done, but could have been softer.

I'll probably make this again, but probably just for hubby.  It was OK, but not really my thing.  I will definitely check out the recipes for the other flavors and see if something catches my eye.  I picked up the Three Cheese before I even looked at the recipes and figured the worst case, I would make mac & cheese.

Adventures: The 127 Sale - World's Longest Yardsale

For months now, my sister-in-law and I have been planning a trip to The 127 Sale - World's Longest Yardsale.  We have talked about this sale for years (since it was featured on HGTV) and it's been a bucketlist item for me.   

This trip really did not go as planned.  Basically from the start.  Originally I figured that we would be there the whole time (Thursday to Sunday).  Unfortunately, my sister-in-law had to work on Monday, so no big deal, we'd come back on Sunday.  For planning, I originally thought 100 miles/day but overnight decided on 50 miles/day (THAT was a good idea).

The original plan was for me to drive up to NY with the Jeep.  Well, the check engine light had been coming on a lot (at least once a month since May).  It's always been code 740 (torque converter).  We were told in July 2011 that we would need a transmission, but after a reset and a flush, the code didn't come on again until September 2012.  The jeep has been driving fine, but we figured that we would at least get it checked out before I went on this long trip.  Bad news - it really did need a new transmission.  First gut instinct was "new car" (90K on the car & 10 years old), but then after thinking about it overnight, we changed our mind (no job and new car payment = bad plan) and got some estimates.

Backup plan in effect - I would take the Elantra to NY and we decided to take my brother's car (now my SIL's car) to Ohio.  The Impala is bigger than the Elantra.  That way we could get some stuff in the car!  Bonus change in plans - My SIL's sister, Helen, decided to come with us.  The more the merrier!  Hence another reason why the Impala would be better.  At home, originally we thought that we would have to wait until I got back home until we got the Jeep fixed and Dan would drive it to work and if it broke down, he would just have it towed and then get a rental.  HOWEVER, believe it or not, the Jeep dealership was the best price/deal for the transmission AND we got a loaner car during the work.  WOOHOO!

So trip up to NY was fine (Tuesday).  Wednesday, we were going to leave about 3 pm.  My SIL text me that she was coming home early because she thought she might be getting an UTI and was going to head to the doctors.  Doctor's visit went fine, SIL got antibiotics and was going to down a bunch of water.

Since it was a drinking evening (and I mean water/fluids, not alcohol), we stopped a LOT.  But we were all fine with it.  We had a blast on the ride out.  Luckily, we all get along.  We finally arrived at our hotel about 11 pm.

Thursday, SIL felt better and we had a great day.  We probably stopped at over 75 yard sales.  Some multiple sales in one location.  We started probably about 9 am and by about 3 pm, I was done.  We weren't really seeing anything interesting and I think all of us were about done.

I picked up bunch of old (like 1940's) cat and dog figurines.  I have my mom's dog figurine collection so those old figurines call to me.  I also picked up one small depression glass dish that caught my eye.  And I picked up 2 glass pendants.  I ended up spending about $20.

About 30 miles out from the 2nd night stop/hotel, we decided to just go to the hotel.  Once we unpacked, we headed to dinner and then we were basically ready for bed.

Friday morning, we were in Van Wirt, OH and we were thinking about hanging around there for a Ribs Festival along with the yardsale.  We got ready and then, SIL said "I think we need to go home, I'm not feeling well and I don't want to end up in the hospital here"  That's all it took and we were on our way home.  Let me back up and say, on the drive to OH, whenever I saw a hospital sign, I would always ask "do you need a hospital?"  And on Thursday, Joanne said that she almost said "we need to turn around" on the drive to OH.  I knew if she said we needed to go home, she defnitely wasn't feeling well.  She was WAY TOO excited about this trip to let a little belly ache ruin it.  We (Helen, Joanne's sister) and I could tell she wasn't feeling well during the drive.  Joanne wasn't talking at all.

Friday, we got back to NY about 6 pm.  We took some backroads and took our time.  I figured I would head back home a little early (Sunday instead of Monday), but got to spend some time with each of the nieces & nephew.  Friday, was Maegan's turn - dinner at Friendly's.  Saturday was VJ's turn - dinner at Texas Hot then No Bake Reese's Bars with Chrissy.  Sunday, VJ rode home with me so we got plenty of time together.

Let me say that we came back to a construction mess (we left one too).  Joanne is getting their bathroom redone so no shower for a couple of days, just a toliet upstairs.

Jeepy is back at home and is working fine.  Hubby drove the loaner car - a Jeep Patriot - while I was gone.  This is the 2nd time I've driven a Patriot & I didn't care for them either time - especially this time since there were NO UPGRADES on it - no power ANYTHING (windows, locks, nothing).

Satellite radio was the only good thing.

However, was only for 2 days - it ended on August 1.