Thursday Top Ten: Meals I Make

So in honor of my post about starting to cook recipes from the Betty Crocker cookbook and also having proclaimed myself not exactly the world's greatest chef, I decided to build my self esteem today and list the 10 things I think I make pretty well. Because not everything I make is bad or anything!

10. Mexican Cheese Dip - granted this recipe, like many of mine, was handed down from my mom. But it's basically idiot proof - Mexican Velveeta, Hormel Chili w/o beans, salsa. Mix in crockpot, leave on low heat, you're good to go. Just add taco chips.

9. Chinese Hot Dish - another inherted recipe from mom, I have found this one is actually twice as yummy with ground chicken in place of ground beef. Mix up with cream of something soup (lately I've been choosing Cream of Mushroom), white rice, and noodles and bake it for awhile. Tasty. Nate always takes seconds.

8. Tator Tot Hot Dish - pretty much the same as above, but take out the chinese noodles and add tator tots. Yummy.

7. Marinated pork chops - I found a really easy recipe from Kraft Food and Family that involves marniating your pork in a combo of zesty italian dressing, brown mustard and I think there's something else I'm forgetting. Then you bake them and I tell you, you get the juiciest, yummiest pork chops!

6. One Pan Chicken and potatoes - kind of a long recipe to explain, but it's pretty much chicken, red potatoes and red peppers with some seasoning, all made on the stovetop and all very delicious.

5. Chocolate Chip cookies - maybe not quite as good as my mom's, but I'm pretty good at baking chocolate chip cookies.

4. Pork tenderloin sandwiches - our variation on these is to dip the pork in buttermilk that is seasoned and then into breadcrumbs. Fried up on the stove top and then served on buns, usually with french fries on the side. Healthy meal? Probably not. But tasty!

3. Hash brown hotdish - Yes, I make alot of hotdishes! This one is so simple, I'm sure you've all made it too - hashbrowns, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheddar cheese, ham, maybe some breadcrumbs on top? Bake for awhile. So easy. So yummy.

2. Beef stir fry - I love making this stir fry - it's a recipe I got out of a Taste of Home cookbook, it usually has beef, asparagus and mushrooms, but sometimes we add peapods or broccoli. We serve it over ramen noodles. It's not too difficult, but too many steps to type out here. Just know we love it.

1. Meatloaf - Nate's favorite thing I make is meatloaf. I have two variations - barbequed meatloaf, using barbeque sauce and then italian meatloaf, using spaghetti sauce and we usually serve that one with a little spaghetti on the side. Lately I've changed up and have been using ground chicken much like I have with my chinese hotdish. Sometimes brown beef bothers me, and ground chicken is healthier anyway! And we've found it tastes just as good, if not better than with the beef!

So there you go, I'm not all thumbs in the kitchen!