I Finally Jumped

 Took me long enough. For real.

I finally jumped on the Air Fryer bandwagon. I know I am probably the last person on ALL.OF.THE.EARTH. to have bought one. I have fought the urge, believe me since I don't usually follow the masses. BUT, I have been having FOMO. Like Serious FOMO. So, here I am, I finally did it and yet IT is still in the box, unopened, all alone on my counter, a few days later. 

I will get to it. I promise and then you will never stop hearing me rave about it like everybody else. Right?

I bought one this past weekend at BestBuy while on sale. Bella Pro Series 8-qt. $49.99! I figured you can't beat that (or maybe you can).  She sure is pretty!

Is it that awesome?  Do you have one?   What kind do you have? What do you make in it?

*This is not a sponsored post. The link is to the Best Buy product that I purchased directly and IS NOT an affiliate link.

It's No Wonder

The Covid 19  quarantine weight gain, it is the REAL deal. But in my case probably double that...seriously. Let's call it what is is..Covid 40.  It sucks. And it isn't necessarily the food I am eating but rather lack of much exercise.

Ok, so it might have a little bit to do with "some" of the food I eat because I really like to cook and I am one of those that actually like to eat the food I cook. 

It is kind of funny when my daughter got engaged last Christmas (2019), we all jumped on the "we need to lose weight for the wedding" bandwagon and then Feb-Mar came with the shut down of the whole universe. And well, needless to say, we never climbed back on that wagon. 

But this....this is part of the reason why. 

Chicken Stuffing Casserole

Ingredients

2lbs of Chicken Tenderloin (or you can use left over chicken, Rotisserie Chicken from your local store deli, it's up to you how much time you want to spend on dinner)

2 boxes (total 12 ozs)  of stuffing (preseasoned) or you can make your own

2 cans of Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

16 oz Frozen Mixed Vegetables (I prefer the ones you can steam really quick)

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. If using uncooked chicken (like I did), fire up a pan, add some olive oil and cook chicken. Once cooked, dice or shred into smaller pieces. Set aside. (if using left over cooked chicken or Rotisserie Chicken then shred or dice up, no need to cook separate) 

2. (While the chicken is cooking) Pour your stuffing into a large bowl and add hot water; mix. Let it sit to absorb the water.  I added about 1/2 cup hot water per 6 oz box (not as much water as the directions state since you are not fully cooking it and you don't want the stuffing to be soggy). 

3. Steam vegetables as instructed on bag. Set aside.

4. In a 10 x 13 casserole dish pour in the 2 cans of condensed soup (no water), add in the 1/2 cup sour cream, add some salt and pepper. Mix. Now pour the steamed vegetables in (if in water; drain). Add the diced or shredded chicken. Mix until both the chicken and vegetables are smothered with the soup/sour cream mixture.

5. Spread the moist stuffing on top of the chicken/vegetables. (I use a spatula or fork to pack the stuffing on top so it also can absorb some of the soup/sour cream mixture while it cooks).

6. Cook in oven on 350 degrees for 20-30 mins until the top layer of the stuffing is golden brown and crispy. You should see the chicken/soup underneath the stuffing bubbling.

And so this is my problem. It is no wonder. 

Enjoy! 

{Recipes} Taco Casserole

Anything that resembles a taco or burrito is always a big hit at our dinner table.  I made this partially on the stove and then put it in the oven to finish up. This can be made completely on the stove as a "One Pot Wonder". 

Ingredients

3 lb ground beef (I bought mine at Kroger this week on sale for $7.47; that's $2.49/lb!)

 15 oz can of Black Beans (.69 @ Winco; had from previous shopping trip)

2 Roma Tomatoes, diced. (.88/lb)

4 oz Preshredded Lettuce ($1.69 for 8oz bag; I only used about 1/2 of the bag)

4.5 oz Kroger Sliced Olives ($1.50 for 2.25 oz; $3.00)

8 oz Nacho and Taco Blend Shredded Cheese ($2.69)

Directions

1) Turn oven on to preheat to 400 degrees.

2) Brown hamburger on stove in a large skillet, drain.

3) Add Taco/Fajita or Burrito Seasoning* of choice and 15 oz can of Black Beans into skillet with hamburger. Continue to heat up for approximately 3-5 minutes.

4) While hamburger is browning, dice up the 2 tomatoes, set aside.

5) Once the hamburger, beans and seasoning is ready, pour into a 13x9 casserole dish.

6) Spread layer of cheese on top of hamburger.

7) Cook in oven for approximate 5 minutes to allow the cheese to fully melt.

8) Remove from oven, spread a layer of lettuce on top of cheese, spread layer of diced tomotoes and olives on top of lettuce. Add another layer of cheese, if you really like cheese like us. 

9) Cook in oven for another 5 minutes.

10) Remove from oven and serve! 

Add a dollop of sour cream* and/or roll into a tortilla ($2.69)

Total Dinner Cost: $18.26 (includes tortillas even though we only used 2). 

Serves 8. 

$2.28 per serving. (We have tons of left over so I will be using this for lunch tomorrow)

*I did not include cost of seasoning or sour cream in total dinner cost since I have a large containers of both on hand and did not purchase specifically for this dinner.