New Blog

Well....I have started another blog. I thought ONE was hard enough...so I need your help to keep me inline. ;-)

Anywho...it's true. Here is the link.

http://www.dawnadinners.blogspot.com/ 

It's just a simple blog that will showcase new recipes I find.

Heck, who doesn't want to try something new....and can I say....EASY!!!
I know I like that idea! And so does the Nikster. 

So...as I look for new recipes and try them out, I will post them here for you to try. 
I have to successfully complete the recipe in order to post it...which means ANYONE can do it too if I have!
Trust me...I am NO Pro and definitely NOT any better than anyone when it comes to cooking or baking...but I AM trying to expand on the few recipes Nik gets stuck eating every week.

Check me out. Follow the adventure. And enjoy!

I am always [the whole purpose of the blog] looking for new delicious and simple meals....so email me if you have some for me to try! I would love it!

Email Me

@ 

NikDawnaBerry{at}gmail{dot}com 

Sharing is Caring!

So I haven't posted in a while but boy do I have some funnies to tell you!

Let's start with the usual dinner at the Berry House. Ok? I usually have the main meal made by the time Nik comes home and then when he gets home I finish the last stuff...veggies, fruit, salad, or anything else that is better fresh. Sometimes I will ask Nik for his help and this one particular time made me laugh the hardest.

I ask him to cook up the frozen green beans and so he started with getting the bag out of the freezer and getting a bowl down from the cupboard. He proceeds to put the frozen green beans in the bowl and puts them in the microwave. Once it beeps he pulls them out, puts some butter on them as well as salt and pepper. He brings the bowl to the table.

Notice how I never mentioned him putting the now cooked green beans on our plates or in separate bowls? That's right...because it never happened. We eat dinner and then before I know it I look over at him and this is what I see - Nik holding the green bean bowl up with one hand and a fork in the other, grabbing the LAST green bean out of the bowl! They were GONE! He sees me looking at him with a sad puppy-dog face as he puts the last one in his mouth. He then immediately looks down at the bowl and then back at me and realizes he ate them ALL! He smile with a mouth full of green beans and swallows. I asked "what about me?" in a sad little cute voice. He replies "I brought these over to share" and smiles again in a sorry but cute smile.

Hahaha I couldn't help but laugh so hard at that face and what he just did. It was the funniest thing ever. Lol. Yes, he really did mean to share but he was just enjoying them too much and ate them all. So every now and then when we have to share something I always joke about letting me ACTUALLY eat some of it or what not.

This same thing happened at breakfast one time. He had made waffles and brought everything to the table. He asked what I wanted to drink and I told him I wanted milk. Well, I'm not if it is this way with every male but with Nik he would rather keep it small and simple. So he grabs a big cup out of the cupboard and pours milk in it and brings it to the table. That's right, just one cup....a big one. Well I didn't really pay attention and need any milk to drink until later...and of course it was at the moment Nik takes the last sip of milk. I look at him with that same over-exaggerating sad face as I see there is no milk. He makes the same "whoops" face as he looks at the cup and then at me and then at the cup and back at me. haha. It was so funny I laughed hysterically again because this was the second time sharing wasn't really the best of options. haha. We both laughed for a long time.

I love my husband and how cute and funny he is. He is always making me laugh with the funny little silly things he does on purpose and not on purpose. He is all mine and I couldn't be any more happy!

Me? A New Wife? Must Be.

I don't know what my problem has been ever since we got married...but I canNOT for the life of me read and follow a simple recipe. SIMPLE, I said.

It started with Monday's Sunshine Chicken. The recipe said to bake COVERED for 30 min and then UNcovered for 15. Guess what Dawna did...yep...UNcovered the whole time. Seriously...I felt like such a doof cuz the chicken didn't come out crispy like it should have and it simply told me what to do. duuuhhhh Dawna.

It's a good thing we ate out Tuesday night on our way to Harry Potter cuz it would have turned out a mess just as Wednesday ended up turning out.

So Wednesday comes along and I get home from work. I have 2 hours to get dinner made and then go pick up Nik from his job. I wanted to actually make something good rather than the norm - Mac & Cheese or Hamburger Helper. An idea popped in my head - CHILI! Yeah, baby! We got all the stuff for it, I just need to thaw out the ground beef. I go stick the frozen meat in the microwave and it starts heating up. Then I realized and figured the chili would taste much better with more time to simmer...so I decided I would make the chili another day and instead made some last minute recipe searches and came across Mini Meatloaves. All we needed was ground beef, onion, salsa, cheese, bread crumbs, and egg...oh and a muffin pan. Had all that! It cooks for 20-25 minutes, plenty of time before Nik gets off work. "Okay, Dawna...let's do this."

I take the thawed ground beef out of the microwave and chop up the onions. I decide - "Oh, ground beef and onions...you must brown them together. Okay I got time for this still." So I put them in a pan and turn the stove on. "Brown the meat and onions together...smells good. Can't forget the salt and pepper for taste. Yum!"

Once I am done with that, I put it in a mixing bowl so I can add the rest of the ingredients. Then I stick my hands in the bowl to mix it up and I think "hmmm...I don't remember it being THIS hot when I would make it with Mom and Carrot. I'll get a spoon." So I mixed away. Forgot the egg, but didn't realize that til after the fact.

I spray the muffin tin and think to myself, again, "I wonder why I have to spray the tin. The meat isn't going to stick. Oh well...I'll follow the instructions (or rather destructions) like I should." The meat mix goes in each hole and I place it in the 400degree oven. I wash the dishes during that 20minutes and then I take the meatloaf out.

"Hmmm...they are a little dark. I must have cooked them too long even though that was the shortest time possible. Oh well, gotta go pick up Nik."

I leave the house and I kid you not...1/2 mile into the drive I realize "IDIOT!!! You aren't suppose to BROWN the GROUND BEEF! DERRRRR" I laugh the whole way to Nik's office and on the way I call my Mom to share with her my funny new episode of "New Wife-ness" and we share a good HARDCORE laugh...but she tries to make me feel better and tell me that she is laughing WITH me and not AT me. Well truth be told...this ONE time...she was right. She was laughing with me. I couldn't believe myself.

Nik jumps in the car and I am still laughing. I told him everything and we were gonna eat it anyways cuz that was our dinner. He was laughing pretty hard too. He was happy I was laughing at myself too instead of crying over it. I must say I am very proud of myself for that reason.

We get home and eat it along with mashed 'tatoes and corn...I tried to not screw those up too much. Turned out good. I checked the recipe for the meatloaf and NO WHERE on the card does it say to BROWN the meat. No Where. I was just thinking "Onions and beef...must brown." I was also still in the mindset of CHILI!!!

Needless to say we are still alive and kickin'...comforting feeling, right? Twice Baked Meatloaf is a new Berry recipe!!! You should try it! NOT! hahah. But I will give you the recipe below of Cheesy Salsa Mini Meatloaves. How you choose to make it is up to you...and as you see from my example...browning the meat is not a good route to take. :D Enjoy!

Cheesy Salsa Mini Meatloaves
1lb Ground Beef
1/2 c. Finely chopped onions
1 egg
12 Saltine crackers or 1/2 c. Bread crumbs
1 1/2 c. Mexican Four Cheese
1 c. Salsa

1) Heat oven to 400degrees
2) Mix first 4 ingredients with 1 c. cheese and 1/2 c. salsa
3) Press evenly into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. Use back of spoon to make indentation in center of each. Place muffin pan on foil-covered baking sheet.
4) Bake 20-25 minutes. Top with salsa and cheese and bake 3 more minutes until cheese melts.

Did you see any browning to do?? Nope...but you are more than welcome to do so! Twice Baked Meatloaf. YUM!

So...am I a new wife?? Must be!