I am calling this one "My Cooking Fiasco"! LOL For those of you who really know me - you know I have this love-hate relationship with cooking. I love to eat but hate the cooking part! LOL Don't ask me where I got it because my Mom is a great cook and enjoys being in the kitchen. I on the other hand think it's akin to cleaning the toilet. LOL

But anyway...the coupon chat ladies and I have been canning lately. We've been getting all these terrific deals on produce and have made jams, salsa and such over the past few months. Hubby and I have been canning here at home as well. LOVE IT! I know what you are thinking - perhaps it's the end result is so beautiful in the jars or something - but it's not the same! I am laughing at me too...

Anyway, all that rambling to say, I have been cooking quite a bit this week. I am quite proud of me I must say! I looked up various recipes the other day - really wanted to find some stuff that I could make ahead and pull out and nuke for quick easy lunches. I am trying to plan ahead for the school years (which starts in a few weeks - yikes!) and be more prepared. So I looked up some recipes that I could make up and freeze for easy "nuking". LOL - so far so good I am excited to say!

The boys have been having fun playing outside - despite the fact that the equator crosses our back yard these days! :) Sunday afternoon they were playing so good with our neighbor Austin that I decided to treat them to a picnic.

I packed them a "picnic" bag with a hot dog, chips, drink and a homemade breakfast cookie (more about this yummy treat to come). They were so excited - their little faces shining. You'd a thought I had given them each a $100 dollar bill. Precious boys...they decided to eat in the back of the truck bed so that the hounds wouldn't steal their "dogs". LOL - I enjoyed watching their little "picnic" in the back of the truck. Sweet summer memories...

They each ate everything in their bag plus another hot dog! And their declared the cookies delicious! W00-Hoo!

I made homemade tortillas! Oh my goodness! They are so yummy! I don't know what it is, perhaps growing up in South Texas I have always been partial to the homemade ones. Someday I hope to employ my own little Mexican Grandma who will make me homemade tortillas every day....sigh.

Anyway, back to my own tortilla making. I don't own a tortilla press, but I do have a rolling pin! So I did my best tortilla rolling impression and came up with some odd but tasty shapes! LOL

It already looks yummy in the pan!

Here they are - my yummy yummy tortillas!

My next recipe is Giant Breakfast Cookies. I saw these on a blog and thought - well that just sounds yummy! They have chocolate chips and oatmeal and only 1/2 cup of sugar so they are probably a lot better than a bowl of sugary cereal.

I made regular cookies out of part of it, but I decided to make bars to put in the freezer for later.

They came out of the oven looking golden and scrumptious!

I cut nice generous squares and wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in a freezer bag. I look forward to having these to pull out - cut up some fruit, pour a glass of milk and wah-lah - breakfast!

I also made up breakfast burritos! Sausage and egg - yummy! I stuck these in the freezer for a flash freeze - then wrapped them in plastic wrap and bagged them for the freezer too!

My cooking fiasco also included homemade corn dogs! I was quite excited to try this one out. I actually did this one first - so Hubby could try it out before he headed in to work.

Here they are ready for the oven!

They turned out very yummy! The boys and Hubby loved them! For this one I used a recipe I had found on a blog, but I have also seen Rachael Ray make them on the Food Network and so I planned to try that one next time.

Food talk break...lol.

Tuesday the boys decided to bring out the Lincoln logs for a little building time. They built some super cool forts for the army guys to defend.

While the boys were building their forts I was baking Chicken leg quarters! LOL I had a 10 lb bag of chicken leg quarters, so Monday night I put 4 in the crock pot with carrots and onions. Then Tuesday morning I put some in the oven to bake. I deboned the leg quarters from the crock pot to make chicken and rice and bacon-chicken subs. I strained the broth to save for later! Yeah - I also made some more broth using the bones and carrots and onions. I love having chicken broth on hand for a quick chicken soup! Yum!

Spice bars - oh these are AwEsOmE!!! Something like pumpkin pie...just yummy! I made these using a spice cake mix, 2/3 cup of oil and an egg! So good! My hubby was very excited. Of course that could having something to do with his love of pumpkin pie! LOL

Another breakfast goodie! I made french toast sticks using french bread. These are super good! I did the flash freeze thing and bagged these for quick easy breakfasts! (We actually ate these this morning with maple butter syrup and fresh fruit. They are so yummy!!!!) I want to try them using Texas toast as well!

Another food talk break! LOL Monday the boys and I went to Wal-Mart to do a little shopping, so we missed watching Monday Night Raw on Monday Night. Therefore on Tuesday evening we watched Raw together while eating baked chicken and rice. Which I whipped up quick and easy sneezy using my baked rice. I laughed and laughed when I saw the championship belts laid out on the recliner. Love love love those babies who love love love their wrestling! :)

And while the wrestling was happening on TV, the wrestling was happening live in the Johnson house too! ;)

Back to the good eats! I found a recipe for Pancake-Sausage Muffins and thought they sounded like a yummy breakfast treat. (Also good for freezing and quick-reheating!) I decided to make them into bars using my brownie pan Hubby got me - they didn't brown as much as I had thought they would, but they sure are good! The boys and I liked them so much we decided to have them for dinner tonight. Chocolate Milk, fresh fruit and a little maple butter syrup and we were set!

Tonight I tried out the Rachael Ray oven baked corn dog recipe - I think it turned out well! They look great!

I also tried the batter on some Eckrich sausage - love that stuff! These came out smelling awesome and I can't wait to try them out! Yum!

Who doesn't love some bacon!!! I cooked up bacon to use in my bacon-chicken subs and also in some breakfast sandwiches (coming soon).

Here is my chicken bacon subs - oh boy am I excited about these - we are having them for lunch tomorrow! Yummy! Hubby found these great Hoagie Rolls at Aldi's when he was picking up milk for me. The recipe calls for a french bread loaf (making one huge sandwich). WM was out of french bread when we were there on Monday night, so these rolls worked out well. I put a garlic butter on the botton, shredded chicken (from the baked chicken I made) and then topped it with crumbled bacon and a little cheddar cheese. They look super duper yummy and I can't wait to try them. I wrapped them in foil - I'll toast them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes before eating. I can't wait!!!

Here's another shot (before the cheese) I left the cheese off of Red's since he can't have it. I want to try these out with the french bread loaf and Monterrey Jack next time. Yum!

Okay that's my update and my cooking fiasco...hope you enjoyed my rambling...until next time...love your babies and smile a lot!