Peppers - QUICK use them!

Last night, I forgot to take out any freezer meals. I need to be better about that!

So, I decided to use some of the sweet peppers that we bought a huge bag of and never used yet. Don't you hate when that happens?? "Oh these are on sale and they sound AWESOME, let's buy wayy too many of them and then they go bad." :-/

So the peppers were on the verge of going bad, and I made a HUGE serving of Simply Salsa for a party last Saturday, that no one really touched. We had chicken tacos with the Southwest Slow Cooker Sauce, but my friend made a 7 layer dip and we used that as a topper for them... It was amazing!

We also have a ton of frozen chicken because I didn't use as much as I thought I would for Kate & Mike's freezer meals (I ran out of room in the freezer, so I couldn't use it all!). I decided to do a Simply Pepper Chicken skillet meal.

I put about 6 chopped peppers, 3 cups of Simply Salsa (with canned tomatoes), 2 tbsp of Onion Onion and 8 chicken tenderloins chopped into bite sized pieces in my big skillet on high. Mixed it up a bit, and put on the timer for 20 minutes. With about 3 minutes left, I turned it down to medium low, and added a cup of mild cheddar. I started to burn it a bit with it on so high!

After it cooked up, I put some serving on a tortilla and added some sharp cheddar to it. It was a little spicy (I think from the Simply Salsa Mix), but overall super delicious!

If you are interested in ordering any of these products, don't hesitate to shop! All the new fall products are out and super yummy! :) Shop here!

Are you interesting in hosting a party to receive some of these products for free? Just e-mail me at mixwithsteph@gmail.com.

Until next time,

Keep Cooking!

Freezer Meal Workshop... I need a bigger freezer!

Freezer Meals are my FAVORITE!

I just came back from a Pampered Chef Freezer Meal Workshop with Alicia. I know, going against my own kind! But it was nice to see how it worked and what I would do for my freezer meal workshop!

It was a long 3 hours, but I got 11 meals out of it for Brad and I! :)

If you are interested in hosting, you are able to get your freezer meal spices FOR FREE!

If you just want to attend a freezer meal workshop, you are in luck! I'm hosting one at the end of September. You will need to bring your groceries (about $75 worth) and your smiling face!  I'll have the Tastefully Simple products ready for your arrival! You will have some leftovers, if you want to make the recipes again at home.

I need a commitment by Sept. 15! E-mail me at mixwithsteph@gmail.com for the order form. :)

Freezer Meals by Tastefully Simple

Freezer meal workshops are the new way to market the Tastefully Simple products. This is one reason why I decided to join recently, opposed to a few years ago. Tastefully Simple now offers more meal solutions rather than just dips and desserts.

Since we are going to visit family in SC who recently had a baby,  I decided it was a great time to experiment with the freezer meal menus offered on an exclusive Tastefully Simple facebook group that offers thousands of menu options and tips. I made twice as many so Brad and I had some as well! 

The menu I picked had mostly crock pot meals. Who doesn't love an easy crockpot meal?! 

The Tastefully Simple products I used were: 

Garlic, Garlic
Onion, Onion
Simply Salsa
Bacon, Bacon
Dried Tomato Garlic Pesto

The total cost of the products are about $45 plus shipping. I did not use all of the containers so there was plenty of leftover spices for other meals! 

The menu had 7 meals. I had more, but I ran out of room in the freezer! These meals feed between 4-6 people. So if there is only one or two of you, this menu could last two to three weeks! 

Crazy Chicken Cacciatore
Sweet Shredded BBQ Chicken
Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes
Creamy Mozzarella Pesto Chicken
Mozzarella Pesto Meatloaf
Sizzling Fajitas
Simply Salsa Lime Chicken Strips

I went on Thursday for groceries. I needed to buy stuff just for Brad and I, so by the time I left it looked like I was feeding a small army. I spent around $43 in protein, cheese, tomato sauce, and veggies for the meals. 

That's less than $100 for seven meals! I know that's less than I generally spend, and with those proteins, veggies, and cheese I had product left over for even more meals. 

If you decide to join me for a Freezer Meal Workshop, you can customize your grocery list. I will give you want you need, but I don't care what brands! I spent about $150 for all my groceries at Bottom Dollar, which is way less than I would have spent at Giant Eagle. I obviously bought more than just the freezer meal ingredients, so I tried to narrow it down to just what I used for the meals. 

I prepped 5 out of the 7 meals on Thursday, including prepping veggies and more meat for the rest of our weekly lunches. It took me about three hours. Vito tried to help, but he wasn't very helpful. It made it a little more difficult but overall I got a ton completed, just ran out of freezer space! Also note, I made double the meals so I made 10 meals in 3 hours, with other prepping and cleaning out the freezer to make sure things fit. 

During a Freezer Meal Workshop, you buy the product, and go shopping. Then you do a couple things to prepare (such as anything that might need precooked) and then bring all your groceries with you to the party to finish off the prepping with the TS products. It's a great way to enjoy others company while doing a tedious task! Also, enjoy some samples of other Tastefully Simple products. :) 

If you are interested in Freezer Meals but don't live in Pittsburgh, don't worry! Contact me and I will send you a sample menu with the products to buy. Once you purchase the products, I will send you the recipes and grocery list. 

I need to create a menu, but plan on hosting a Freezer Meal Workshop on Sept. 27 or 28! I would need 6 people to commit in order to host it! I plan on creating a 10 meal menu using chicken, beef, pasta, and vegetarian options. 

If you are interested in anything, feel free to contact me. 

Until then Keep Cooking! 

Stephanie

WIN Host Rewards!

YOU ARE INVITED! 

Now until July 31, I'm hosting a catalog party.  

You can buy all the yummy products featured on this blog and MORE! 

The cool thing about this catalog party is it's a MYSTERY HOST! 

Your order is an entry in winning the potential host rewards from the party! 

The party needs to qualify at $400 in order for anyone to receive rewards.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP!

If you and your friends order over $60 on one order, shipping is cheaper! 

Not sure about buying, but want to try some products? Contact me about an in home party, mixwithsteph@gmail.com. 

Italian Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Hello!

Wednesday, I was in the mood for something different. Brad cooked the night before and it was delicious. I had to live up to his wonderful meal of meatballs, zucchini, eggplant, and pasta!

I decided to create stuffed chicken breasts. I bought some string cheese a little bit ago, so decided to use that to stuff the breast.

Ingredients: (These can be changed to whatever you need!)
3 Chicken Breasts
2 Mozzarella String Cheese
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes
2 cups Mushrooms
3 tbsp Garlic Garlic
3 tbsp Onion Onion
3 tbsp Italian Seasoning
3 tbsp Pepper
3 tbsp Parmesan Garlic
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp Cilantro
1 cup Ragu Tomato Sauce

I had to defrost the meat, since I never think of it in the morning. Sometimes, the microwave does a great times.. other times it takes like 30 minutes. This was 30 minutes moment. Luckily, Brad got stuck at work late so we weren't waiting around for food. I just want creating my masterpiece while he was still at work!

I put the tomatoes in the bottom of my Pampered Chef baker with a layer of the mushrooms on top. Then I added about 1 1/2 tbsps of all my spices. I think I might have over done it with spices, but Brad said it was good.

Once the meat was defrosted, and since I don't have a meat tenderizer #thingstoputontheregistry, so I used my grandma's rolling pin to beat the chicken down. After I smacked it until it was pretty flat and stretched out.. I dipped it into the remaining spices as a rub on both sides of the chicken.

I rolled the chicken around half of a stick of the cheese. and put it into the baker with the roll on the bottom so it didn't come undone. You could use toothpicks, I just couldn't find them when I was making it so I just hoped for the best.

On top of the chicken, I added the Ragu sauce for some added taste.

Popped it in the oven at 375 for an hour.

Then dinner was ready!

Have you tried any of my recipes? What about the TS Products? Let me know what you think! Also, the PC stoneware bakers are my new go to for bakeware! My friend, Alicia, is a consultant and introduced me. Good for her, bad for me! There goes all my money!

Until next time! Keep cooking!

Fiesta Fajitas!

Hello All! 

I have been meaning to post for a while, but of course, life is in the way! 

A few weeks ago, I made our favorite meal... Fajitas! 

Well, instead of using my normal seasoning, I used Tastefully Simple Feisty Fajita™ Dip Mix. 

It was so tasty! 

I used one packet of the seasoning (there are two per box!) and rubbed it onto the chicken. 

I put them in the skillet with about 1 tsb. of olive oil. Let them cook up for about 15 minutes. 

 

I also made some veggies with it, green peppers and mushrooms!

I added a little of the dip mix in here as well. And cooked these up for about 10 minutes. 

Our dip mixes and seasonings can be used for so much! I enjoy learning new recipes either from the TS website or just my own creations. 

Let me know if you have any new TS recipes! I love sharing and cooking. 

Until next time, keep cooking!! 

Finally out of my daze...

Hello Again!

Thought I forgot about you, didn't you?

Sorry for the prolonged blog post, but I have some EXCITING NEWS!

Engagement:

I'M GETTING MARRIED!

Brad proposed to me at the Brad Paisley concert on May 17, 2014 in front of friends and family during our song, "She's Everything".

I was completely clueless... and I think after a month of floating on air, I'm finally back on Earth. It's still a bit surreal. Brad and I keep looking at each other saying "We're engaged" or "We are getting married!"

The date set is 6.11.2016 and the colors will be Kelly Green and Peacock Blue. Yes, I'm a crazy planner but we have been talking about this for a few months PRIOR to the actual engagement. :)

Mix & Marinate: Tastefully Simple:

 I just had my first party at Alicia's house! It went so well with 4 people, plus those who are ordering online. Thank you to everyone for a successful first party and hopefully many more to come!

Tastefully Simple Recipes

I made a yummy crock pot meal with our Corn, Black Bean Salsa & Onion, Onion spice. I put some chicken, about half the jar of the salsa, 2 tbsp of Onion, Onion, a half of green pepper and cheese in the crock pot for 8 hours. It was a little messy, but an easy meal that was really delicious.

The nice thing about these products are the versatility. The Onion,Onion can be substitute for a real onion. 2 TBSP of the product equals 6 of a fresh onion. This is so awesome because for how infrequently I cook, I can never keep fresh produce! I really like the Corn, Black Bean Salsa, if you are looking for something easy rather than adding cans of corn and black beans and tomatoes, etc., this is perfect. It's already in there and has a different flavor than a regular tomato based salsa.

Please visit https://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/smueller3 to order or book a show. :) If you are looking for samples, please email me at mixwithsteph@gmail.com. I will work with you to figure out the best way to get all of your taste buds delighted!

In the mean time - Keep cooking!