Edamame...I love you!

So my first experience with Edamame was at a local sushi restaurant when I went with a friend and he got them as an appetizer.  I was hooked ever since.  I had gotten them a few more times and devoured them.  So as I was having a craving for them today I thought hey I wonder if I can make these myself and save a trip to my favorite sushi place, and money!
What is Edamame you ask???  All it is is a soy bean in a pod....or you can buy them not in the pod.  But they are so much fun in the pods!!  Soy beans, who knew!

So I scoped out our local grocery store and figured out I'd probably have to get these in the frozen section as we don't have very extensive produce in our area (North Dakota).  Sure enough there it was in the frozen section in our organic area of the grocery store.  They were screaming my name.  And for only $2.89 for a 10oz bag I thought I'd try it!

Well it was so ridiculously easy to prepare them that I may just have to stock my freezer with this tasty treat.

First I just started boiling some water in a pot on the stove.  I added quite a bit of salt as this is pretty much what gives these the flavor they have.  If you have to stay away from salt then just add what you are comfortable with.  Then after they started boiling I carefully dumped in the whole bag of frozen beans and simmered them for a few minutes.  I did taste test a couple first before taking them out of the water.  They should be easy to squeeze out of the pods but not mushy.

I then strained them in a colander and ran cold water over them to stop them from cooking.  Then I once again dusted them with sea salt.

And voila!!  A super easy dinner that is relatively good for you (besides the salt I suppose!) and I shamefully devoured the entire bag....

You can either squeeze the beans out with your fingers or just use your teeth to pull them out.  You'll be hooked!!  Try em, they're DELICIOUS!!!!

Chicken Broccoli Tater Tot Casserole

So this is of course a meal I found on the wonderful Pinterest.  I made it for my husband one night as his self proclaimed favorite meal is tater tot hotdish and I thought this would be an interesting twist on it!  We ate so much!!  I think it was the first time that the leftovers got eaten!  I knew this was going to be a staple in our home.  Well my parents were stumped on what to have for dinner tonight so I offered to make it.  They are very meat and potatoes people so it is always nice to try something new!! 

I spent a total of $7.93 for this meal.  Which for 3 adults who will be able to each have 2-3 servings that's not bad!  We did have the chicken already in the freezer which obviously helped save us on $$ and we had all the spices and milk and cheese. 

Groceries:

• Cream of Chicken soup (store brand) $0.99
• Oreida Tator Tots $3.64
• Birdseye Frozen Steamable Broccoli $1.93
• 8oz Sour Cream $1.37

Here's my version of the recipe: (originally found HERE) I did omit the bacon pieces as it doesn't really need em.

1 pound of chicken breast, cut into chunks and browned
2 pounds of frozen tater tots 2 cups of broccoli, cooked

2 cups of colby jack or your favorite cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon of seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

First I cut up my chicken and browned it in a pan with a little bit of oil, salt and pepper.  Then you layer the chicken in the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan.  Then layer the broccoli (I buy the quick steamfresh packages of broccoli, steam em and then dump them on top of the chicken).

You mix the soup, sour cream and spices together in a bowl.  Then add the milk and 1.5 cups of the cheese.  When that's all mixed up you pour it evenly on top of the chicken and broccoli.  Then put the tater tots on top and finish by topping it off with the rest of the cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  Then ENJOY!!!

It's so easy, and fairly cheap if you keep the main ingredients stocked in your cupboard/freezer.  If you make this dish let me know if you love it!!!

Sorry for the terrible picture, we all started digging in before I could snap one!!  LOL

So it begins...

Well well well I find myself once again with the attempt at a successful blog! LOL I had such a wonderful response from friends and fans on my Sally Stitches site during my food series (that I didn't finish out, ooops!) that I decided to solely devote a blog just to my cooking.  I love cooking and baking for others and I figured this would be a way I can share this with more than just my close friends and family!  Plus now with the amazing invention of Pinterest the possibilities are endless!

I have been battling some personal issues as of lately which has my husband and I temporarily (hopefully) separated at the moment.  But I do go over there occasionally and cook dinner for us as a family and it makes me so happy.  My plan is once I move back in to start a weekly meal plan.  It will help us save money and I will get to try all these new wonderful recipes I have pinned!! haha

If you would like to look back at the previous posts on my other blog here is a linky for that!

Now you may all be asking yourself, Cooking with Crossbones??  That's an interesting title!  Well frankly it just boils down to my love and slight obsession with skulls and crossbones and I liked the ring of it :) I won't be only cooking Halloween things or with deadly concoctions BUT there may be the occasional 'interesting' item thrown in there to spice things up a bit!!

So with that being said please subscribe and share with your friends and I will begin posting meals and treats very very soon!!!!

xoxo
SS