For the hamburgers, I used ground chuck and seasoned it with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. I cooked them until they were well done. Then dressed the hamburger bun wit ketchup, mayo, and mustard.

We even had hamburgers again last night per the hubby’s request. This time we bought Angus ground instead of chuck. It was really good good and shrunk in size about the same as chuck.

So it’ll probably be another week before we have hamburgers again but I’m glad that my husband thinks they are so delicious. It’ easy to make and it’s one of my favorite foods. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Last night he was visiting with friends and picked up dinner in town. So he stopped at Subway. He ordered a meatball pizza and then proceeded to go to his friend’s house.

When he arrived his friend was making a grilled cheese sandwich and commented on the meatball pizza. Since the personal pizzas are too much food for one person, my husband gave a slice to his friend. His friend was very impressed on how good the meatball pizza tasted.

This week I’m making homemade pizza. In fact I may make two and use meatballs to top one of the pizzas.

I think I will use Parmesan cheese as well as mozzarella to add to the meatball pizza. It sounds yummy so hopefully it will be.

My sister-in-law makes a wonderful crockpot pizza so I was glad to find a pizza casserole recipe. It turned out really tasty but could use some improvements. I had to half the recipe since I didn’t have enough meat. So it could have used more pizza sauce and more pasta. I should have used all of the pasta and more pizza sauce.

It was nice to try a new recipe. I should branch out more often but find new recipes intimidating. Will it turn out OK? Will we like it? And with our oven so temperamental, it can be hard to judge just how long to cook something.

This week I plan to try a few more recipes from the cookbook. At least with the pizza casserole we have found a new recipe to add to our monthly meals.

Chicken is one of the cheapest meats and is my least favorite to cook. But if you are looking to save money, then using chicken as a main ingredient will help to keep the cost of the meal down.

Pasta is another cheap food. You can also make meals more interesting by switching pastas. There’s spiral, spaghetti, elbow, etc. that you can use to make a meal.

Those weekly sales ads are worth checking out since you can find out which grocer has the best deals. I’m not one for shopping at several stores but if it means substantial savings, then I may just have to do it.

The best way to save money at the grocery store is to plan. Shop from a list and stick to it. We eat better and I take less trips to the store when I make a list.

What you will need -

Flour tortillas(whole wheat)
1 can chili
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Open your cans and then begin to put the dish together by starting with a layer of tortillas. Then add a layer of chili, black beans, and corn. Then add another tortilla and repeat with the layer of chili, beans, and corn. End with a tortilla layer and dribble the remaining chili on top. Then add cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

You can add your favorite Southwest flavors like black olives, sour cream, etc. to the top of the lasagna for more flavor.

First thing you’ll have to do is boil some eggs. Place the eggs in a saucepan of water. Make sure the water is covering the eggs by a few inches. Start with cold water and slowly bring the water to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, leave the eggs on the burner for about a minute and then remove. Let the eggs cool with the water.

The easiest way to dye eggs is to buy an Easter dying kit. The one I like best has the cups and dye included. You just need vinegar and hot water. If you don’t have a kit, then you will also need food coloring and a cup for each color.

Fill each cup with 1/2 cup of warm water and add 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Then add your food coloring or dye tablets. Wait until tablets dissolve to begin dying the eggs.

Next take a spoon to gently lower the cooled egg into the colored water. You can use your hands if you don’t mind getting food coloring on them. You can also use your hand just to dye half or a third of the egg one color.

Let the egg sit in the colored water for about a minute. Check to see if the color is what you want. If not then leave the egg in there for a few more minutes.

If you want to write on the eggs or draw a design, use wax to do it. The area on the egg covered with wax will not take the dye.

Remember to keep hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator while not hiding them for the hunt.

Michelle Roberts from the cooking school made 8 delicious dishes that were then given away as door prizes. I was so hoping to win one but did win a small, Tupperware door prize. There was a nice goody bag that everyone received for their paid admission to the show.

In the cookbook were all of the recipes made during the show and many more. It was really inspirational and gives me some ideas for dinner.

One of the dishes involved salmon. It was good to see her cook salmon since I usually stay away from cooking fish. I just don’t feel confident in knowing when it’s done. But seeing it cooked and hearing a few tips makes me think that I might can make it after all.

It was great fun and if a Tast of Home Cooking School comes to your town, make sure you attend.

There were many tips that were shared during the show. It’s a lot of knowledge packed into just a few hours. Also there were a ton of other door prizes from local and national sponsors.

It was a great time and was fun to see a live cooking demonstration. I will be making at least a few of the recipes over the next few weeks. I am even more looking forward to dinner time. I think this cooking show helped to raise my interest in cooking.

This week I bought a new stand alone mixer and couldn’t wait to give it a try. Since I adore cheesecake, I thought making the cheesecake was the perfect way to finally test out the mix and to use my new mixer.

The Jello cheesecake takes 15 minutes to prepare but then you must let it sit in the refrigerator an hour. There are two parts to the cheesecake - the crust and the filling. Do the crust first which is basically adding sugar and melted butter to the crushed graham crackers. Then spread them along the bottom of your pie dish.

Then mix the filling with 1 2/3 cups of milk. Blend for a total of 3 minutes 30 seconds. Then pour filling into pie dish and spread it out. Put in fridge for 1 hour. Place pie dish in hot water for 30 seconds to help make it easier to cut the crust.

I must say that it takes delicious. The crust fell apart but it is still divine. This would make an excellent quick dessert for your family or to take to a get together. It’s definitely one I will buy again. It could be very useful in the summer when it’s too hot to heat up the kitchen by turning on the stove.

Recipe exchanges are also fun to get to know new people. Some recipe exchanges might be holiday themed. I took part in one that was all about Valentine’s Day so naturally I received quite a few sweets/desserts. That was fine with me as I have a huge sweet tooth. Some recipe exchanges might be to send your favorite recipe. Those are always fun. One of my favorite recipes is Taco Bake. It’s a simple recipe that I got from the back of a Campbell’s soup label.

Message boards and forums are a good way to find exchanges or to start one. See who might be interested and go from there. It might be some work to organize one but well worth the effort.

It’s a Sunbeam 2350 Heritage Stand Mixer.While I’ve been drooling over a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, I recently heard a few say that the Sunbeam was just as good as the Kitchen Aid for a third of the price. She has a friend who is a chef so I figure I can trust someone who cooks more than I do when it comes to small kitchen appliances.

I can’t wait to give it a try. I have been putting off some baking because I didn’t have a mixer. Now I can get to baking. We’ve been wanting to make some homemade cookies since that should be fun for the three-year-old.

With the bread machine and now the stand mixer, my kitchen wish list is nearly complete. Now for a dish washer and I’ll be all set.