Tastefully Simple Tuesday!

Back again for another yummy Tuesday! This time I'm going to focus on two items. This weekend I used Onion Onion and Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup together to make one tasty casserole.

Onion Onion is a spice from Tastefully Simple that will become an every day staple in your kitchen. It's not just 4 different kinds of onions that make up this spice but garlic, sea salt, shallots, red bell pepper, parsley and chives all together for a delicious must have in whatever you are cooking.

Onion Onion can be a dip for chips and vegetables by mixing it with sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt for lighter version). You can add Onion Onion to olive oil, vinegar and water for a great marinade. Mix Onion Onion with ground beef or ground turkey for wonderful Burgers or Meatloaf. Mix Onion Onion into mashed potatoes, omelets, stews, soups or on top of whatever you're getting ready to toss in the oven for great flavor.

Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup is a Fall/Winter 2012 soup that warms you on the inside on a cold day. The soup itself is rather tasty but you can add chicken, broccoli, a can of diced tomatoes or a can of beans to turn the soup into a meal of its own. The soup can be used to make mac and cheese or Au Gratin potatoes. For an easy lunch you can top the soup with Bacon Bacon, minced ham, pop corn or shredded cheese. Prepare the soup with a dark beer and enjoy!!

On Saturday I decided to marinate chicken breasts in Onion Onion with olive oil and a splash of vinegar and water. I was planning on just cooking up the chicken with quinoa and roasting asparagus but looking in the cabinet I found I had Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup Mix. As I prepared the quinoa, I started making the soup in another pot. I figured I only need to make half the packet of soup because I only had one cup of quinoa and three chicken breasts. I used a 9 by 5 glass casserole dish and put the chicken and quinoa in it, poured the soup over top, and baked it. I served the casserole with with roasted asparagus and all I can say is YUM!!

Cheesy Onion Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts

Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 packet of Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup Mix

Quinoa
1/2 cup of dried quinoa
1 cup of water

Marinade
2 Tbsp of Onion Onion
Splash of water
Splash of vinegar
3 Tbsp of Olive Oil (I'm guessing as I didn't measure)

Directions:
A few hours before you're ready to cook everything combine the marinade ingredients together and add chicken. Let chicken marinade.

When you're ready to start cooking preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the dried quinoa and water in a pan and cook over medium heat until quinoa is soft and water has been absorbed.

Combine 1/2 packet of Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup Mix and 1 1/2 cups of milk in another pan and follow directions on packaging for cooking the soup.

Place chicken breasts and quinoa on the bottom of a casserole dish and top with soup. Bake for 30 min (or until chicken is cooked all the way through).

Notes:
This is for a smaller sized casserole as Kevin and I were the only ones eating. Feel free to double everything on this recipe and make a larger casserole.

If you don't like quinoa swap out that with rice or pasta!

Feel free to order from my site and or look around what other fabulous tasting foods Tastefully Simple has to offer! http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/asachs2

Tastefully Simple Tuesday

This week I'm going to talk about a sauce mix that I have never tried up until this week, Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix.

I ordered myself a sample when I first started selling Tastefully Simple but have yet to try it. I kept forgetting that it was there and well.... our family is a Prego family. It works for us and tastes good.

The picture to left had me thinking it came in a jar with the tomato sauce. Imagine my surprise when it was spices in the little sample pack! Score! I love spices. So many uses in one little packet!




So last Wednesday it was just Connor and I grocery shopping and getting stuff for the rest of the week. I realized I had no idea what we were going to do for dinner when we got home. I picked up a pizza making kit. Fast and easy. Done.

Well..... as we were putting the sauce on the pizza I looked over and the sample packet caught my eye. We spread out the sauce and then I sprinkled the Mama Mia Marinara Sauce mix over the pizza sauce. Then we put the cheese on the pizza and I did one last sprinkle of the sauce mix over the cheese.

It gave what is normally (to me) a bland cheese pizza a bit of a kick and flavor. I was impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

Homemade pizza kit with Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix

THEN this weekend I was making grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I like to fancy up my grilled cheese sandwiches a bit. I was spreading butter on the bread in preparation for the pan and the left over sample packet caught my eye. I sprinkled some of the sauce mix over the buttered slices of break and then cooked the sandwiches. The mix cooked right into the bread. It was aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing.

Grilled cheese sandwiches with Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix

I'm coming up with so many different ideas for this sauce mix and I haven't even tried it in a marinara sauce yet! I made sure I placed myself an order of the whole container last week! Next on the Mama Mia adventure is meatloaf!

Check out more Tastefully Simple products at my website! http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/asachs2

Tastefully Simple Tuesday

I've mentioned in my previous blogs that I am now an Independent Tastefully Simple Consultant! I'm hoping to start posting recipe ideas of what I'm doing with the products!

This week I am going to cover Oh My! Chai.

Oh My! Chai is not JUST a drink mix. It can add just the right amount of yum to your baking, breakfast or dips.

When its rainy, cold or snowy outside I love to make myself a cup of Oh My! Chai while Connor is napping and enjoy the quiet while I get a quick 10 - 20 minutes of relaxing time in. It can be made with milk or water... or both! There is also frappe directions on the container as well.


One simple quick way to turn plain Cool Whip into an even better topping for ice cream, cake, brownies or a dip for fruit is to add Oh My! Chai. This past week I did this for Book Club and a small get together we had for the Raven's Game on Sunday. We dipped fruit in it and I also added it the dip on top of Chocolate Ugly Cake after I was done with eating fruit.

Twice now I have incorporated Oh My! Chai into French Toast! I swapped out cinnamon with the Oh My! Chai. Usually cinnamon floats along the top and only the first couple slices of bread get the cinnamon before I find myself adding more into the mix. Oh My! Chai dissolves into the the egg mixture! Each slice of bread is getting some of the flavor! It gives my usual French Toast a little pick me up!

Here's my recipes:

Oh My! Chai Cool Whip Dip

This one is pretty simple. One regular sized tub of Cool Whip and add three spoonfuls of Oh My! Chai. Mix well.


Oh My! Chai French Toast

Ingredients:
3 Eggs
Splash of Milk
Splash of Vanilla Extract
3 Spoons of Oh My! Chai
8 - 10 slices of bread (any kind you choose)

Directions:
Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Add Oh My! Chai and mix together until dissolved. Dip slices of bread into egg mixture and cook on a griddle until both sides are golden brown. Serve with butter, confectioner's sugar or syrup.



Do you use Oh My! Chai an a different way than a beverage? Post your ideas here! Visit my site to order Oh My! Chai today!

Gratitude Day 9

Gratitude Day 9 (a day late)

Day 9... I'm grateful for the fact that I finally took a step towards something that I've been thinking about doing for about 6 months. I kept dismissing the idea but finally decided to move forward. This week I became a tastefully simple consultant. I've always loved going to taste testing parties and enjoyed their food. I decided that if I were to become a consultant of something it would something that would get frequent returning customers and something that I love. Enjoy the holiday specials ;)