Intro

So I’ve decided to start a blog. My husband and I, both good to excellent cooks, are so irritated about people constantly saying that they don’t cook because

1) It takes so much time,

2) It is difficult, and

3) This one blows my mind – it’s expensive!

Cooking doesn’t have to take forever, and my favorite recipes are the easy ones. And if you shop smart, it is SO much cheaper than buying pre-packaged meals or eating out, and SOOO much healthier!

In the future, I will post what we had for dinner that night or the night before, and maybe a picture. Below are just a couple of recipes to get you started.

I will rate these recipes by stars. I was going to do a 5 star system, but I realized I didn’t want to post anything below a 3, so I’m gonna do a 3 star system. 3 is good. 4 is great. 5 is amazing.

Now, I know that many people have something against red meat. Personally, my only problem with cows is that they are bad for the environment in the numbers that we keep them. But once or twice a week, we eat beef in our house. Here is a good beef recipe that takes hardly any time at all.

Dirty Rice – 3 stars (thanks, me liking Zatarains and trying to figure it out for myself!)

One pound ground beef

1 cup uncooked rice and two cups water

1 packet Onion Soup Mix

Brown ground beef. To make this a one-dish recipe, I brown the meat in the pot that I will be making the rice in. Drain meat. Return meat to pot.

Add 1 cup white rice and two cups water. Stir in Onion Soup Mix. Bring to a boil.

Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 20-23 minutes (stoves vary).

This will feed 2-3 hungry people. If you have more, increase proportionally. I would always follow the directions on your bag of rice. So, if you have to use 2 pounds of beef and 2 cups of rice, follow the directions on YOUR bag of rice for how long to cook. If you have to double, you might have to use two packets of soup mix.

Here’s another good one, if you like pork chops.

Pork chops – 5 stars (thanks, Allrecipes.com)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

½ cup milk

Lemon pepper seasoning

Dijon mustard (or horseradish mustard)

Butter

Season pork chops with lemon pepper seasoning. Melt butter in pan. Brown pork chops on both sides (about 10 minutes). Add soup, milk, and mustard. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until chops are done. Serve over noodles (we like egg noodles, which are cheap and quick) or rice.