I made these to take to field day.

Since I did not get to do any Easter baking, I thought I would make these for a spring theme. 

I just made a normal cupcake and iced it. Then I took some chocolate and melted it in the microwave on 50 percent power. Then stirred in the chow mein noodles. I set them up on wax paper to cool and used them as nests. Then I added bubble gum eggs.

For some I added a peep and an egg.

Another good recipe tonight! I bought one of those add water type pizza crusts, you know the kind you add water to, let it sit 5 minutes, then shape, and try again to make it actually come out round and looking like a pizza. Yeah well it wasn't the prettiest but it was very tasty!

I followed the crust directions. While the crust was setting, I browned the deer meat. (Seasoned with garlic powder, Emerils' Essence and Cavenders' Greek Seasoning.) My 3 most favorite spices for everything!

I baked the crust for 5 minutes then took it out and added pizza sauce, monterrey jack and parmesan cheese, then added the deer meat and some precooked bacon pieces. Then I topped it again with cheese. (I used a whole package 2 cups.) about 1 cup under the meat and 1 cup on top.

The kids raved about it! DH loved it! And I really liked it too!

It is another keeper!

I made this tonight....I was trying to make something else I had previously had, but could not remember how it was made.

You could use hamburger meat instead. But since we have a freezer full of deer meat, I am trying to come up with creative dishes to use it.

I browned the ground deer meat. I added garlic powder, Cavender's Greek Seasoning and Emeril Essence. If you use deer meat you may need to add a little oil to the pan.(1 or 2 tbsp.)

The I added to the browned deer meat, 1 can of sweet corn, (drained) 1 can of creamstyle corn,

1 cup of monterey jack/cheddar cheese. I then got a package of Jiffy corn muffin mix and mixed it according to package directions and poured it over the ground beef corn, cheese mixture. I baked it according to Jiffy mix directions. (20 minutes).

It was really delicious and the kids liked it too.

Personally I would have liked to have added an onion but the kids would not have liked it.

But it was still delish, one I will surely make again!

If I make it at home, it's HOME MADE! 

Have you ever seen the show Raymond? His MIL is looking in their freezer and

she sees Cookie Dough. She says "Well that's almost like baking."

Sort of makes you laugh, but really who has time to make them from scratch ALL

the time. These Oatmeal Raisen cookies were delicious and no prep time.

Just break and bake! 

Just think what our grandmothers would have thought of such innovation.

This is a pound of ground venison browned. Notice anything?

The only oil in the pan is the little bit of olive oil I added to keep it from sticking.

Venison is such a lean meat, that there is no fat so you have to add oil to brown it.

The Chili turned out great. You know you can use Venison for anything that you

would normally cook with hamburger meat.

I use Venison for hamburgers, tacos, soups, spaghetti, etc.

The key is to season the meat. Seasoning will help tackle the game taste.

For seasoning I recommend Emeril's Essence-I use it for everything!

I have been trying new recipes with deer steaks, but no more!  I have now found the perfect recipe for those deer steaks.

Take 8 deer steaks (Actually any kind of thin lean steak would work.)

seaon them well with Emeril's Essence and Cavenders' Greek Seasoning.

Put them in a crock pot. (I usually put do this when they are frozen or not all the way thawed out.) Mainly b/c I forget to get them out in time to thaw first.    

Anyway

Add 1 packet McCormicks' Peppercorn gravy for steak and 1 packet of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix.

Combine these 2 packets with 1 1/2 cups of water.

Cook on low about 8-7 hours. This steak was so delicious. so tender, so tasty. I served it over Uncle Ben's Wild and Long grain rice. (The kind you microwave for 90 seconds.) Dh loves rice.

I made mashed potatoes for ds and I. The gravy had a perfect texture. We poured the gravy over the potaoes and dh poured his over the rice.

It was so easy. After a busy day out all I had to do was nuke some rice and whip up some mashed potaoes and a delicious supper was ready and waiting.

Dh is still ranting about how much he loved it.

Next time I will just add some dinner rolls.

Just a couple other notes. Venison is much cheaper than beef. Much leaner than beef and has no added hormones etc. We have a local taxidermist, that we can get it from for the butchering fee. Since venison cannot be sold. You pay for processing the meat. I usually have it ground into hamburger, steaks and loin cuts. Not sure how many pounds we get, but it usually lasts us about 6 months and we only pay $50.00 for it. This last batch was actually 2 small deer.

I finally managed another dish that my whole family will eat. Yesterday I crockpotted some deer steaks.

I took them out of the freezer, seasoned them with Emeril Essence. I sprayed the crockpot with Pam.

I then put the steaks in and covered them with 1 package of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix and 2 cups of water. I left them on low for about 6-7 hours. About halfway through I added in a package of mushroom gravy mix. (I took out the mushroom pieces since dh doesn't like them.) I added in some baby carrots.

When we got home last night, I nuked a bag of Uncle Bens' long grain and wild rice. The microwave kind. (I was in a hurry.) And poured the steak and gravy over it.

DD liked the deer steak. she did not care for the rice. Ds liked the steak but preferred the rice. Dh and I liked it all. So it will be on our list of things to make often.

Especially on busy days.  Today I am making taco soup with ground deer meat.

Bob, a friend of dh's, recently fixed my laptop. He took Vista off and put XP on it for me. So now it is working wonderfully.

Anyway, for payment he asked for a Coconut Cream Pie. (Actually my favorite pie too.) The problem I had was that I hadn't a clue how to make one. So that sent me searching for a recipe. Oh and of course it needed to be easy too. The cool whip added a delicious creaminess to it.  Of course I made us one first just to test it out. I couldn't be sure all 115 reviews were really accurate. For one I couldn't believe such an easy pie could be so yummy.

Here is the recipe here at Kraft.com. Now I changed it up a bit. I used Coconut Cream pie filling not vanilla, and I doubled the amount of coconut. I just love it with the graham cracker crust.

Well I had it planned yesterday, but am just now getting it posted today.

Monday-Ham, Sweet potatoes, Scalloped Pineapple

Tuesday-Roast and Potatoes and Carrots and Rolls

Wednesday-Roast Sandwiches, left overs

Thursday-Cherokee Casserole

Friday-Leftovers

Saturday-Shrimp and Fish, Baked beans, Salad

Sunday-Pizza, left overs

Monday-Chili

Tuesday-Chicken Parmesan, Angel Hair Pasta, Salad

Wednesday-Tamales, Rice

Thursday-Coconut Shrimp, Salad, Baked Potatoes

Friday-Crab Cakes

Saturday-Chef's Night Off!

Sunday-Pizza

Monday-Taco Soup

Tuesday-Chicken strips, rice, salad

Wednesday-Spahetti, Salad, Garlic bread

Thursday-Salmon Patties, Angel Hair Pasta, Salad

Monday-Taco Soup

Tuesday -Roast, Carrots and Potatoes

Wednesday-Taco Soup

Thursday-Roast Sandwiches

Friday-KFC

Saturday-Chili

Well this makes for an easy week only cooking three days

Monday-Salmon Patties, Angel Hair Pasta, Salad

Tuesday-Talapia, Mexican Rice, Salad.

Wednesday-Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Cheese biscuits.

Thursday-Parmesean Chicken, Beans, Steamed Veggies

Friday-Tamales, Rice

Monday- Taco Soup with Deer Meat

Tuesday- Deer Cabbage Casserole

Wednesday-Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Thursday-Chili

Friday-Frito Pie

I know it is better late than never! Well I put my menu planning off until I got a weather update.

My dh doesn't really like soups and Chili unless it is cold. (That would be below 50 degrees for us.)

We also now have a freezer full of deer meat that I am trying to creatively cook! So I am looking for clever recipes.

Monday-Subway sandwiches

Tuesday-Deer steaks in the crockpot, Brown Rice with Deer steaks gravy and sugar snap beans. Ecce Panis baguettes (bread) with Olive Oil and cracked pepper! (Thanks for reminding me about that Lisa!)

Wednesday-Chicken Fried Chicken Nuggets, Gravy, Corn, Salad more Foccia bread!

Thursday- Salmon Patties, Califlower, Angel Hair Pasta, Cabbage

Friday is supposed to be cold, so -Frito Pie

Saturday-Deer Meatballs stroganoff with noodles for dh.

Sunday-Turkey and Wild Rice Soup and rolls.

Well we have no left over turkey this year. Dh deep fried a turkey breast. (It was the best turkey I have ever eaten.) So I imagine that is what we will do from now on. So our menu will not consist of turkey left overs.

Monday- Roast, Potoates and Carrots, Hot Rolls

Tuesday- Crab Cakes, Angel Hair Pasta, Salad

Wednesday-Spaghetti, Garlic Bread and Salad

Thursday- Tamales and Rice

Friday-Taco Soup

Monday- Frito Pie

Tuesday - Tamales, Rice

Wednesday -Spaghetti, Salad and Garlic bread

Thursday - Crab Cakes and Pasta -(We never got to them last week.)

Friday- Taco Soup

Here is my recipe for Taco Soup. There are many variations and people change this based on their likes/dislikes etc.

I usually crockpot chicken breasts during the day while we are gone. (I usually sprinkle them with Ranch dressing (Dry buttermilk) and some butter and/ or taco seasoning.

Then later that day when I get home I cut it up or shred the chicken and return in to the crockpot.

(This is my favorite way to eat it.)

NOTE: (Of course if you need something quicker you can add left over cooked chicken, or beef. You can brown beef with taco seasoning, I have used left over turkey and also left over pork before. I have even used canned chicken when I needed something really quick and did not have time to prepare meat.

then I add the following to the crockpot or a large pot:

(the meat of course)

1 can of ranch stlye beans

1 can of Black Beans rinsed and drained.

1 can of hominy or I use 1 cup of prepared rice. (I like to have variety in color-so this adds in something white.)

1 can of Rotel Mexican Fiesta-I like to blend this up some first just to make it finer. (So the tomotoes are not so chunky.)

3/4 bag of Green Giant Extra Sweet corn niblets.

1 chicken or beef bullion (depending upon which type I am making, Sometimes I do add it, sometimes I don't.) Depends if I remember it and have it in my cabinet. 

1 tsp Cilantro.

Add water -depending upon your desired amount. My dh likes to drink the broth, so I try to add a little extra in . But you still want to taste the spice. Bring to a boil, then turn to simmer. (It is ready at this point.)

It usually tastes much better the second day. I just take the left over pot, and let it cool. Put it in the fridge overnight and pull it out the next day.  You can freeze it, to save it for another day.

You can serve this with crushed white corn tortilla chips and cheese. (Or corn bread)

If you are just using left over chicken you can throw everything in a pot, then put the taco seaoning and ranch seasoning in some water and stir, then add it to the soup pot. 

Enjoy!