Continued Adventures in Cooking

Initially I was a little reluctant to do this post.  After all, I am not the greatest cook and I don't attempt the most elaborate meals and well...my mother-in-law reads my blog.  Okay, the real reason I was reluctant was because of my mother-in-law.  She knows how to cook and she is my husband's mom.  So admitting to my cooking deficiencies and posting some of the rather basic things I am making made me a little nervous.  Until this week.  This week I learned that she too, made quick and easy things for Jason when he was little.  She has not always served difficult and fancy meals.  In fact, Jason telling me that he ate (on more than one occasion) mac and cheese with summer sausage cut up in it, gave me the confidence to go ahead and admit that sometimes we eat.......casseroles.  GASP!  Sometimes I even call it hot dish, just for fun.

So this past week, I was in desperate need of a quick and easy meal that didn't take much time to cook, that would be something I could throw in a pan and stick in the oven so that during the cooking time I could feed Molly and be something Isabelle would eat.  Coming up with something Isabelle will eat is hard enough, but finding something fast and easy (besides sandwiches) makes it that much harder.  And yes, I just admitted that we eat sandwiches for dinner.

In my efforts to cook something new each week, I decided to grab out my trusty Kraft magazine and find something that looked good and didn't take too much time or ingredients to make.  Now, I warn you, what I found is not a gourmet meal.  It is not going to make it into the dinner hall of fame.  It probably won't even make it into my weekly rotation.  I may make it again, I may not.  Since I have been cooking more and more I have new choices about dinner and don't have to rely on the same things over and over.  But, it served it's purpose. Jason and Isabelle both ate it and neither complained.  Jason even had seconds.

Layered Mexican Bake.

I did not get around to making a new dessert last week and I am okay with that.  One of my goals is to shed some lb's and I am not sure how a new dessert each week is going to help me accomplish that goal.  I am considering making something and then sending it with Jason to work, but I have to decide if I have enough willpower to give away delicious desserts.

Anyway, back to the mexican hot dish.  It was good, it was fast, it was easy.  Try it on a night where you don't want to eat sandwiches!  And just FYI, I will be back to money saving ideas next Wednesday!