Beef with Mushrooms & Dijon Sauce

Lots has changed over the past few months- and all of it has been wonderful.  I left my sister wife and sister husband to move in with my boyfriend just outside of Santa Clara California.  It really feels like all of the hard work and tears over the last few months is starting to pay off.  :)

I feel like we have moved 5 times in the past week...  I look forward to sitting down every night to dinner for a sense of normalcy.  I think that was the only time growing up my family talked with each other.  I plan on carrying on that tradition with my own kids, and luckily Gary loves it too.  I'm sure I will be posting a lot if new recipes since we make a point to do this every day.

One of the newish meals I have made lately was this one.  It turned out pretty good actually!


Cooking Spray
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 boneless beef sirloin steaks cut into strips
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup (I use  98% Fat Free).
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons Dijon style Mustard
Chopped fresh parsley 

Spray a 10-inch skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms onions & garlic and cook until tender. Remove the vegetables from the skillet.  Remove the skillet from the heat

Spray the skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the beef and cook until it's well browned, stirring often.  Pour off any fat.  I actually just browned the meat in the pan and threw them on the grill to get grill marks... that's an extra step though

Stir the soup, water, mustard and vegetables in the skillet and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Toss with potatoes or rice and add parsley 

We are low carb low cheese until our wedding in June- but you can serve this over potatoes or rice to make it more filling.  We decided just to have this and a salad on the side- it was yummy.

Jack Daniels Beef Stroganoff

Hi Everyone!

I look forward to sharing my cooking adventures with you. Taking pictures as I go will be my challenge, and I did miss a couple steps here in my first go around, but I do hope you can use your imagination on the parts I left out of the pictorial. I cook by tasting as I go, and recipes tend to be loose guidelines rather than explicit instructions that MUST be followed. This method has surely resulted in a few unexpected "pizza nights" when things have gone awry, but also many homeruns that have landed in our family's meal rotation.

For my first recipe, I took a comfort classic and added my own little twist to it: booze. I was planning on deglazing my saute pan with a splash of white wine, but as is common in this house... we drank it. So upon peeking in the bar cabinet, I figured a little bit of JD would add just the right amount of spice and sweetness to the dish. And really, can you ever go wrong with whiskey? I think not.

Give yourself around 5 hours for this dish to cook to perfection. It is on the short end of the spectrum as far as slow cooking goes, so likely not a great choice for a day when you will be gone for the majority of the day.

Step one is easy. Toss 1lb of your diced steak of choice (I used the stir fry beef) with 2 cans of Condensed Golden Mushroom soup. And no, you cannot substitute cream of mushroom. Its gross. Throw in a tablespoon of chopped garlic and 1/2 packet of onion soup mix. Stir it up, set it and forget it for the next 4.5 hours.

Around an hour before your 4.5 hours are up, get back in the kitchen to finish your prep.

I chopped up approximately 4 cups of combined white and baby bella mushrooms.

Chopped 1 medium sweet yellow onion...

Heat up a large saute pan and add approx 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once heated, toss in the medium onion and 1.5 tablespoons of chopped garlic. Saute until the onions are slightly translucent, stirring frequently. 

Now for the fun part... Deglaze your pan with 1/4 cup Jack Daniels (or white wine if you didn't drink all of yours like we did). However, I think the whiskey imparted a hint of sweetness that really played well with the dish. You should try it ;)

After deglazing the pan, reduce the heat to medium, toss in your mushrooms. 

Add 1.5 tablespoons of herbs de provence and another splash of whiskey. Stir to combine the herbs and cover for 1-2 minutes. The mushrooms should be soft, but not saturated. Remove from heat.

Time to bring the two worlds together. Before....

And after! Now cover it up and let the flavors combine for another 30 minutes. During this time, prepare your egg noodles. I used a full 16oz bag. Drain and set aside until your stroganoff is ready.

Here is another example of me forgetting to take pictures... I'll do better next time! Add 1/4 - 1/2 cup cream cheese and 1/4 cup sour cream. Stir to combine and then add your noodles. I know, I know... some of you would rather just top your dry noodles with the sauce. But I like the sauce all up in my noodles, so I prefer this way. 

Top with another dollop of sour cream  and enjoy! 

Sister Wife!!

I started a new chapter in my life this past April, and I'm so excited for what's to come.  Part of this excitement is my new place of residence in a mini zoo in south San Jose.  My best friend who... let's be honest here is my sister... has agreed to take me in for the next few months until I begin a new chapter.  That in itself its own story!  I'm lucky enough to have her, and her husband Jeff affectionately refers to me as "The Sister Wife."

Part of living in this house consists of lots of wine, laughter, and of course... cooking.  The three of us love to take care of each other, and part of that is making sure we are all covered with meals.  :)

I decided to open up my blog to Mrs. Reichert so we could both post our favorite pics and recipes as well as document this crazy few months together.  C'est la vie!

Homemade Mac and Cheese

I haven't really been posting because I had a very busy end of April, and a very fun vacation in May.  Also, I have started a rigorous diet where I can't really consume a lot of calories, and almost no carbs.  It's been hell, but I am currently at my lightest in over a year.  I do have a ways to go.  I look forward to it.

One of my favorite things to make for my husband is homemade mac and cheese.  He's a big velveeta van, and he could eat it out of the box every other night.  One night on a boycott, I stumbled across this recipe.  However fattening, it's simply amazing.  I always have tons of leftovers, especially this time since I am not eating carbs.  :)

Homemade Mac and Cheese


1 (8 ounce) package medium shell pasta
1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (12 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, add pasta, and cook until done; drain.

In 9x13 inch baking dish, stir together macaroni, shredded Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle topping over macaroni mixture.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until top is golden.

My husband likes this on it's own, but it's a great side dish to bring to a BBQ.  Fabulous! 

Easy Foil Baked Fish

I love white fish.  When I go home to see my mom, she always makes breaded sole and swiss chard.  It's one of my absolute favorite meals, and super easy to make.  I ran across this one, and realized it might be just a tad healthier.  Yes, the olive oil is still there, but the fish isn't breaded and its baked and not fried.   I served it with cous cous and spinach. 

Easy Foil Baked Fish

2 tilapia filets
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, sliced
1 lemon
3 cloves of garlic, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Rinse fish, and pat dry.

Baste fillets with olive oil, and season with garlic salt and black pepper. Place each fillet on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Top with jalapeno slices, and squeeze the lemon over fish. Arrange lemon slices on top of fillets. Carefully seal all edges of the foil to form enclosed packets. Place packets on baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of fish. Fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork.

Healthy and delicious!

Cheesy Ham Breakfast Casserole

I made this on a whim since I was having some friends over for breakfast.  I don't do that usually, I am more of a dinner girl.  Never have been much of a breakfast person.  I was caught off guard by this one since it's extremely simple...doesn't call for eggs or anything like that.  However, it was fantastic. I totally believe in butchering this recipe too. It's a great base.  Possibly adding some sausage, mushroom and peppers would be good.

Cheesy Ham Breakfast Casserole


Cooking spray
1 (30 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes (I used shredded ones)
8 ounces cooked, diced ham
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of potato soup
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper (optional).


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix hash browns, ham, cream of potato soup, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese. Spread evenly into prepared dish.  Add salt and pepper, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly brown. Serve immediately.

Turned out yummy, and it was a big hit.  I served it with toast, orange juice and fresh strawberries.

Celebratory Country Ribs

I made these the other night to celebrate Tim's first full week at his new job.  I would have made them on the BBQ like I used to, but I decided to pop them in the oven to see how they turned out.  Take my advice- throw them on the grill.  They were still good, I mean how can you really mess up ribs?  Still, there is nothing that compares to that open BBQ flavor.

Celebratory Country Ribs  

2 1/2 pounds pork spareribs
2 (18 ounce) bottles barbeque sauce
1 onion, quartered
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Place spareribs in a large stock pot with barbeque sauce, onion, salt, and pepper. Pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a low boil, and cook approximately 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking dish with foil. Remove spareribs from the stock pot, and place on the foil.  Cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn once or twice, and baste with liquid from stockpot. 10 minutes before serving, remove foil and let ribs crisp up.

Like I said, I made these in the oven, but they would be much better on the grill.  Enjoy!