Tex mex skillet dinner

Today Tammy flew to Washington State to visit my relatives and attend a Tastefully Simple conference.

I'm on my own.  I have to fend for myself.  I have to make my own food.  I'm gonna starve!!!

Oh wait.  I know how to cook.   Never mind.

So tonight I made a dinner that Tammy wasn't interested in.  A Homemade Gourmet Tex-Mex Skillet Dinner.

http://recipes.homemadegourmet.com/recipe.asp?code=9886

Tammy didn't think she would like Tex-Mex seasoning.  And this dinner was an opportunity to use up some ground beef.  Tammy is not much of a red meat eater.  And she likes her meat fresh.  No more than a few months old.  The ground beef I have in my freezer is more on the order of 'more than a few years old' and Tammy won't eat it.

Since Tammy will be away for a few days and I need food to tide me over until she returns...I got a little carried away. I added a little more of my rice to the amount of rice that came in the Homemade Gourmet packet.  Then I had to adjust the amount of water.  Then I decided to add two pounds of beef instead of just one pound to balance the rice out.  In hindsight I should have added one more can of diced tomatoes to balance the meal out.  Oh well, there is always leftovers to experiment with.  (That is if I survive after eating my 'old' ground beef.  Tammy keeps telling me I will die from eating it.  I haven't yet.  Tune in tomorrow to see if my lucky streak continues.  Or wait... the expiration date on the rice and seasoning was back in 2011.  If I kick the bucket tonight that could be the reason!   Yikes!)

By the way... I like the meal I made and am looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

Skillet Burrito Mix

A few weeks ago I got adventurous and made a Homemade Gourmet meal on my own - without Tammy's help as she is back in Minnesota.  Tammy said she wasn't fond of burritos so I made myself the Skillet Burrito recipe. The recipe can be found here: Homemade Gourmet Skillet Burrito recipe.

Yum!  I loved it.    And it wasn't hard to make.

As the recipe is for a serving size of eight I had plenty to eat for days afterwards.

While the recipe called for one cup of Mexican-style cheese I added a little more than one cup to the pan.  Then, when I made each burrito, I sprinkled more of the cheese on the filling.  So I ended up using two cups of Mexican-style cheese by the time I ate everything.

In the second photo, that is the recipe's Cilantro Spiced Sour Cream Topping. That also tastes good.

I also made and ate a Mexican Black Bean mix, but it appears Homemade Gourmet has discontinued that recipe as I can't find it on their web site.

Garlic Lemon chicken

Sunday night Tammy made me a Homemade Gourmet garlic lemon chicken meal.  We added mashed potatoes and steamed cabbage to the chicken breasts.  Another yummy meal.

The garlic lemon chicken recipe can be found here: http://recipes.homemadegourmet.com/recipe.asp?code=10117

Spinach and Artichoke casserole

Last night Tammy and I made a spinach and artichoke and chicken casserole.  I even helped her make the meal.

Another yummy meal.

The recipe can be found here:  Spinach and Artichoke Chicken and Penne

Tammy likes cheese so she added lots of extra Mozzarella cheese on top of the casserole.  That is why it looks much cheesier than normal.

This may be the last Homemade Gourmet meal for a few days as we have a refrigerator full of leftovers.

Today we swung by a small expo where three women with home based businesses (Miche bags, Scentsy and Tupperware) rented a small room and showed and sold their wares.  Tammy made more contacts here in Montana.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad mix

Last night, to accompany our second helping of the taco soup, Tammy made a Mediterranean Pasta Salad.  Yum!

I'd include the recipe but Homemade Gourmet discontinued the recipe and seasoning when they updated their list of recipes and added a Mediterranean Medley Seasoning Shaker to use on a number of updated recipes.

Doesn't this pasta look yummy?

Instead of the pasta salad mixture we used, it appears Homemade Gourmet replaced it with this recipe:

Taco soup

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Last night Tammy and I made taco soup.  Even though the weather is warming up now that our high temperatures are in the 40s F, I felt hot soup would be nice for the next few days.

The recipe can be found here: http://recipes.homemadegourmet.com/recipe.asp?code=5704

(If interested, you can order the taco mix through Tammy's Homemade Gourmet web site: http://www.homemadegourmet.com/tamara23544)

We made a few modifications to the recipe.  Tammy doesn't like pinto beans so we left that out and replaced it with a second can of corn.  We also added a second can of tomatoes, a can of peas, and a can of green beans (as we both love green beans).   We altered the soup to be stronger on vegetables than broth.  It was very filling.

The Homemade Gourmet^® Taco Soup Mix isn't too spicy.  Tammy doesn't like spicy foods and she was fine with the spice level.  The mix had just enough spice to satisfy me. Although... I may have altered the soup's spice level as I inadvertently drained the can of chopped chilies before adding them.

We were able to alter how much spice we got in our individual portion based on the ratio of vegetables vs. broth as the spice was in the broth. The photo is of my bowl of soup.  Yum!

A person can use the taco soup mix to make taco dip if they prefer. As Tammy is not a big soup person, that is what she usually makes.

Garlic Lemon Shrimp and Spinach Pasta Bake

Now that Tammy is here I am eating better.  Here is one of the Homemade Gourmet meals she made me: Garlic Lemon Shrimp and Spinach Pasta Bake

Yummy!

(The recipe can be found at the link above.  You can order the Homemade Gourmet^® Garlic Lemon Seasoning Mix through Tammy's web site: http://www.homemadegourmet.com/tamara23544)


It is supposed to serve eight people but it was so good we ate lots, and between the two of us we'll only get three meals out of it.  And it tastes just as good as left overs.

Spinach and Artichoke meal

Tammy made one of her Homemade Gourmet meals tonight: Spinach and Artichoke Chicken and Penne.

Yum!

What Tammy made is a variation of the spinach artichoke dip recipe.

For dessert Tammy made a Silky Chocolate Mousse Pie. Also yum!   I forgot to take a photo of the pie.