Cooking, coats, and conversations

Random bits from the weekend...

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I was a cooking goddess this weekend. Well, OK, I didn't make anything spectacular, but they very fact that I cooked! voluntarily! more than once! and it came out good! is a pretty big deal.

For dinner on Saturday, I made Impossibly Easy Cheesburger Pie. The recipe came off the back of a Bisquick box:



1 lb. lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup) (I left this out, since Tony doesn't like onion)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz.)
1/2 cup Original Bisquick mix (I used the Heart Healthy Bisquick)
1 cup milk
2 eggs

1. Heat oven to 400*F. Spray 9" glass pie plate with cooking spray.

2. In 10" skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in salt. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese.

3. In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients with fork or wire whisk until blended. Pour into pie plate.

4. Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Tony liked his topped with ketchup, which makes sense, but I thought it was fine without. Also, even though you're supposed to put it in a pie plate, I'm sure any casserole dish would work. It was really delicious, and so easy to make. Oh, and it also tasted good reheated (we ate leftovers for lunch on Sunday).

I also attempted fudge, which was a disaster, since it never hardened (note to self: try Jess's 3-ingredient fudge next time). I ended up pouring the gooey mess into the trash. But then I attempted Oreo truffles, and they came out fabulous. The recipe I used wasn't very exact, but it worked out fine for me. Again, it's super easy--it seemed a little complicated, just reading the instructions (melting things? waiting for things to firm up? dipping things?), but it was really easy. And it didn't take as long as I thought it would waiting for things to chill in the fridge.

Oreo Truffles

1 package of Oreos
1 med. tub of cream cheese (about 8 oz.), softened
1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips

1. Crush the Oreos (however you want--food processor, in a Ziploc bag, etc.) until they are all crumbs. Stir in cream cheese until well-mixed. (The mixture should be really thick and gooey, and hard to stir. Not sure if an electric mixer would make it easier, or if it would be no help--I mixed by hand.)

2. Roll into balls and place on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet. Chill in fridge until firm.

3. Melt chocolate chips in microwave, adding a little bit of butter as you melt them to make a "dippable" consistency.

4. Dip the balls in the melted chocolate until coated, and return to the wax paper. Chill again until firm.

5. Store leftovers (ha!) in the fridge, covered.

I'm thinking you could probably substitute mint Oreos or some other variation of Oreos for a different flavor. Also, if you were feeling really creative, you could always melt a little bit of white chocolate and drizzle it over the tops of the finished balls, to make them prettier.

Ha, look at me sharing recipes--I'm like a regular little Suzie Homemaker. But seriously, I hate cooking (though I love baking, go figure), so I'm always happy to come across super-simple, quick recipes. I mean, by the time I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is spend an hour or 2 in the kitchen slaving over a complicated dinner. And trust me when I say I wouldn't be sharing these recipes unless they were wicked easy.

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I am still on the hunt for a spring jacket. I checked a few places this weekend, but with no luck. I even tried Burlington Coat Factory, which has an entire department dedicated to coats, but most of their selection was winter coats. It's April--that makes no sense. I may check back in another week or so and see if they have more selection. I mean, they can't seriously carry winter coats year-round, can they?

I am also on the hunt for a new purse (shh, don't tell Tony). I was thinking that as much as I despise giant purses, it might be a good idea to upgrade to something larger than my usual, for traveling purposes. For example, when I go see my sister in 23 days!, I'm only going to bring my purse and one carry-on, so that I don't have to check any luggage. So it would make sense to have a purse large enough to accommodate my normal purse paraphernalia, as well as a good book to read, and any other miscellaneous stuff I'd rather not pack in my suitcase-y carry-on (for example, my airline-regulation-sized liquids). The same principle applies to when we fly for our cruise later in the year. So, see, a new purse makes perfect sense. Surely Tony cannot argue in the face of such pure logic.

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Conversations with a toddler, while driving down the road...

Ari: Car! Car! Car!

Me: Yes, baby, I see. It's a car.

Ari: Car! Car! Car!

Me: Yup, you're right. There's a car.

Ari: Car! Car! Car!

Me: I know, sweetie.

Ari: Car! Car! Car!

Me: You know, we're driving on the highway. There are lots of cars.

Ari: Car! Car! Car!

Me: You're kidding--a car? Where?

Ari: Car! Car! Car!

Me: Yes, sweet pea. A car. I get it.

Ari: Car! Car! Car!

Me: *sigh*

Ari: Car! Car! Car! . . . . [repeat at least 50 more times]