The Downhome Diva

Breast Cancer Awarness Month

2010-09-16T10:47:00.003-04:00

October is breast cancer awareness month and already things are gearing up in stores and around the web for various charities to raise money for research, education and awareness causes. This is a subject that is so close to my heart it hurts just thinking about it.

I lost my beloved grandmother, my granny, to breast cancer when I was almost five years old.

That hurts to say. I still remember crying uncontrollably because I wouldn't get to see my grandmother again until I got to heaven. I loved my grandmother. I DIDN'T WANT TO WAIT THAT LONG.

So here's what you need to know:
1. I am participating in Saving 2nd Base which was started by Once A Month Mom and A Southern Fairytale. I'll be sharing my updated version of my grandmother's coconut cake. I say updated because my grandmother was an old school southern cook and she bought a coconut, cracked it open and used that. I'll be using coconut from a bag. I think you'll all thank me for that.

2. If you are uncomfortable with the words breast, boobs, tatas, boobies, etc then you are probably going to want to unfollow me for the month of October. It is ok, I understand.

3. I try very hard to control my language on the web and be sensitive to others sensitivities but breast cancer pisses me off. So I may say it sucks, I may call it a bitch. It's what I need to do to get through this month. This month is always HARD. Most days I don't think about all of the things that I missed because my grandmother died when I was so young, but this month it is in my face all the time everyday. That's ok because it is important to raise awareness, but it doesn't make it any less hard.

4. I will be talking about the uncomfortable things. I will be asking you when the last time you performed a self breast exam was. I'll encourage you to get your boobies squished. I'll suggest that you call every woman that you love and ask them the same questions.

BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT EARLY DETECTION. Early detection of breast cancer saves lives. Maybe if my grandmother had breast cancer today with all of the advancements that we have now... Maybe if she had known earlier...

My grandmother fought and won her battle with breast cancer the first time around. It came back. Breast cancer is a bitch. It robbed me of a childhood with a woman who was made to be a grandmother. It robbed me of experiences and memories, love and hugs and kisses. It robbed me of getting to bake with my grandmother, because my grandmother LOVED to bake. So this month I'll bake for her, in her memory and honor.

Proud of Myself Kaiser Sandwich Rolls for the Bread Machine

2010-07-25T23:13:00.007-04:00

This weekend has brought a lot of time spent in my kitchen. I have made peach jam from peaches I peeled sliced and crushed myself, sweet and tender cream biscuits, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and these kaiser rolls. In other words, I had a very successful and joyful weekend.

I love to spend time in my kitchen. It is how I relax. I love challenging myself to try new things and this weekend I tackled two new techniques: I made jam and kaiser rolls! This might sound bad to say but I am proud of what I have accomplished. I have not witnessed anyone make either of these types of things so I was flying completely alone. While I grew up watching my mother cook, she only made bread at holidays and I do not remember her ever making jam or preserves.

Enough of my pride, let's talk about these rolls! If you are looking for a sandwich bun you can stop looking right now. These are perfect and there is not one thing that could make them any better. They are light and fluffy but also sturdy, not to mention their wonderful taste. This is a recipe to make for company because they will smell up your whole house. I love it when my home smells like a bakery.

I adapted this recipe quite a bit but the original can be found here: Potato Buns
Here's what I did:

Proud of Myself Kaiser Sandwich Rolls for the Bread Machine

1 3/4 cups water
4 cups bread flour
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup potato flakes
2 Tablespoons dry milk powder
1 3/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast
2 eggs
1 teaspoon water
2 Tablespoons or to taste sesame seeds

Load ingredients into bread machine in order according to the instruction manual. Set to dough cycle.

At end of dough cycle remove from machine and punch down. Divide into 12 even portions. I find it helpful to use my kitchen scale for consistency.

Shape into Kaiser rolls. If you need help there is a very helpful video here: the right way to shape kaiser roll (This is a you tube video.)

Place onto parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Make an egg wash by beating the eggs with the water to combine. Brush the tops and sides of risen rolls with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes (mine took 18), rotating sheet pans after 8 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Is there a recipe that you are proud of yourself for making? Please feel free to leave a link in the comments section!

(Picture to come)

Perfect potato salad

2010-06-05T17:44:00.004-04:00

I have been searching for the perfect potato salad recipe for years. My husband doesn't eat potato salad so I make it for myself as a special treat when I make something that he likes that I do not. That means I get to make it exactly to my taste. Now that is my kind of recipe!

So after looking at dozens of recipes and trying out several here is what I came up with this afternoon. This is mostly a traditional southern recipe. It is practically perfect but I'll probably keep experimenting because that is just the way I am!

Ingredients:

3 pounds red skinned potatoes- skin left on
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 whole bread and butter pickle
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 small onion very finely minced (or you can do like Rachel Ray and grate it)

1. Place whole potatoes and cold water in a large pot and place on stove over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium-high. Cook until tender. Drain. Allow to cool enough so that you can handle them. Cut potatoes into eighths.

2. Place eggs in same pot after you have run cold water over the pot to cool it. Fill pot with cold water at least one inch above the eggs. Add tablespoon of vinegar. Place on stove over high heat. Bring to rapid boil and remove from heat. Let sit for 15 minutes. Run under cold water until they are cool enough to handle. Remove peel. Dice the eggs into small even pieces.

3. Cut pickle into small half moons.

4. Combine mayo, mustard, salt and pepper.

5. Combine potatoes, eggs, pickles, mayo mixture and onion in a large bowl. Refrigerate for several hours and serve cold.

When did you learn to cook?

2010-04-27T15:08:00.002-04:00

Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam posed that question today on her blog. Cooking is my passion so I was unable to formulate a quick response and did not want to take up tons of room in her comments so I am responding here in my own little corner of the internet. I hope that Jen will not mind. Please feel free to share your experiences and cooking history as well.

I hope I never stop learning to cook. It is one of my true joys in life. I love challenging myself to try a new technique or come up with a new recipe. I'm constantly "making things up in my head" as I call it and sometimes the results are disastrous but most of the time the result is nothing short of delicious.

I suppose the short answer would be that I inherited an ability to cook. Just as I inherited my curly hair from my grandfather or my fair skin from my father I believe that cooking is in my blood. Both of my grandmothers and my mother were/are wonderful cooks. I really believe that it is part of the southern small town culture that my parents grew up in. Things like that are so important to me. I am pretty passionate about southern culture and the things that make this corner of the world so different and divine. It's not just about flip flops and azaleas. (although L-O-V-E my azaleas)

My mother tells me that from the time I could talk I would inform her that I was going to have a TV show like Nathalie Dupree when I grew up. I was always in the kitchen with my mother keeping her company. She had a small TV in her kitchen that picked up ETV and we would watch cooking shows while she cooked each night's meals. I adored Julia Child and can still vividly remember watching her beat something with her rolling pin and thinking "wow that looks fun!"

In middle school I started begging my mother to let me help cook. I am sure before then I would help her stir something or put cake batter into the pan, peel potatoes or other such things but it was then that I started helping more with actual meal prep. I remember making pepper steak. I am not sure where I could possibly have had that since my mother didn't cook things like that. She cooked very "southern food." It was, of course, a recipe I made up in my head. It was very good, if a little spicy for some of the members of my family.

In high school I started grilling out for my family in the summer time. My dad did not so much appreciate this since he likes to grill but I am sure that my mother probably told him not to ruin a good thing as my helping out was highly encouraged by my mother. I will always be thankful to her for that.

I met my first high school boyfriend in home ec class. His mother made him take it because she wanted him to be prepared when it was time for him to be out on his own. I remember even at the time thinking that she was a mighty wise woman for that. He was a wonderful guy who treated me well and was very respectful and we took several more home ec and foods, as they were called, courses together even after we broke up because we maintained a great friendship for many years. I will always be thankful that my first boyfriend was such a great guy.

In high school I also tried 1.5 million chocolate chip cookie recipes one summer before deciding to ditch them all and come up with my own. Of course I didn't write it down but continued to make it during high school and beyond. I haven't made it in years and don't remember anything other than that it contained shortening, which is probably why I no longer make that recipe. Shortening= bad for you!

My early adult years were spent pretending that I didn't know how to cook so that my friends would cook for me. I loved trying all the different food that my new grown up friends made. Very few of them cooked traditional southern food so I enjoyed having my palate expanded to Indian food, Italian food and Asian food.

I remember cooking for my husband when we first met(I was 20 and that was nearly 8 years ago- side note where has all the time gone?!?) I already knew I wanted to marry him so I wanted to impress him with my cooking. I made potatoes from a box. I didn't know how easy it was to make homemade scalloped potatoes.

When I had decided that "THAT IS IT I AM READY TO BE ENGAGED DARN IT!" I made him "Engagement Chicken" by Glamor magazine. It worked, shortly thereafter we were engaged. It is the first recipe for roasted chicken I ever made and the one that still to this day that I base my own recipe on.

Once we were married I started cooking much more. I would say the turning points in my culinary "career" thus far were the trip that we took with his family to Italy when we were dating and our trip to Paris (again with his family) when we were newlyweds. I came back with a passion for those foods and a drive to learn to make them. Unfortunately I don't get to do so very often as my husband is a meat and potatoes kinda guy and then picky on top of that.

Poor guy was a transplant to this state and thought that he was marrying a woman that would cook him meat and potatoes southern food every night and he got a woman obsessed with different ethnic foods. Oh well. He's still well fed. :-)

Over the last few years I have made more and more yeast breads including my favorite recipe for bread, pizza dough, bagels, rolls, etc.

I'm still not very into making desserts. Maybe one day when I have more mouths to feed it will be more exciting but my husband's taste in desserts is as follows: fruit desserts and deserts containing peanut butter, butterscotch, or caramel. (ahem yuck) Mine are as follows: cheesecake, chocolate, pastries, frou frou french desserts such as creme brule. He finds those equally as yucky.

Right now I am focusing on meal planning, making sure that what we eat is balanced both at the meal, during the day and for the week and on making use of leftovers. I hate to waste!

I am also working on more slow cooker dinners because I reached a point where I needed to make things easier for myself.

I often remark to my husband that I really don't know what most couples our age eat since it seems that women don't cook anymore. Now that isn't meant to be sexist as my husband also loves to cook, but it is like a point was reached in the '80s when mamas started thinking their daughters wouldn't one day have families of their own!

I like to remind him how lucky he is to have a wife who knows how to cook. :-) I was just telling him that yesterday when I waved my magic spatula and turned yucky dried out leftover rotisserie chicken (that I did not make) into moist and delicious chicken croquettes.

I hope that cooking is never boring for me. I hope that I always enjoy learning new techniques and, God willing, I look forward to a day when I can pass on the family recipes and traditions to our next generation.

How to make Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup in 30 minutes

2010-04-09T10:41:00.003-04:00

Today is the third part in my four part blog series entitled: One almost 5 pound chicken, three meals. We have already roasted a chicken and we have made chicken stock. Now we'll use the chicken stock and the leftover roasted dark meat from the chicken to make chicken noodle soup.

Not to toot my own horn but this is one recipe that I have truly mastered. It has become one of my signature dishes and I have made it for sick friends and family members. There is something about this soup that just seems to cure colds. I think it is all of the love I put in it! This is also one of my picky husband's favorite things. He definitely doesn't mind eating leftovers of this- as he is for lunch today.

This is a quick and easy recipe perfect for after a long work day when you want something warm and comforting with very minimal effort.

Here is what you need:

leftover chicken, torn into small pieces (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
2 quarts of chicken stock
1 cup sliced carrots
salt to taste (depends on how much is in your stock)
salt
pepper
Paprika
1 cup of pasta, any type

This recipe only had one step! Combine cold stock, chicken and carrots over high heat. Heat until boiling. Add salt, pepper and Paprika. Add pasta. Cook for approximately 12 minutes or until pasta and carrots are fully cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning. It is always better to put less salt and pepper than you think you will need because you can add more at this point. Serve.

Now, if I wasn't cooking for the world's pickiest eater I would add in celery and maybe some peas but it is already hard enough to pick out all the carrots for him. Add in any of your favorite vegetables and they will only make this better!

How to make chicken stock in your crock pot the lazy way

2010-04-08T10:29:00.003-04:00

Here's the thing, I'm cheap, I'm busy, I'm picky and I'm tired. So I like to put in as little effort as possible to get really good results. I have applied this to my chicken stock recipe as well. I came up with this idea several years ago and then consulted Google, cookbooks and blogs and then decided just to wing it. I crafted a delicious and very easy recipe for chicken stock that I really enjoy. I have used it in all kinds of recipes, but my favorite way to use it is in chicken noodle soup.

I make this the lazy way. It cooks in my crock pot either while I am sleeping or while I am at work. It takes about 5 minutes to throw everything into my crock pot and I get about 3 quarts of chicken stock as a result.

Word of warning for the true tightwads: you can only use the bones once. We will be getting every last good thing from those bones so if you try to use them again the results won't be good. Trust me. I know from experience. ahem.

Here's what you will need:
Really big crock pot
chicken bones from roasted chicken
2 stalks of celery (not the bunch- the individual pieces pulled off of the bunch)
1 cup carrots (can use whole carrots or whole baby carrots)
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
7 whole peppercorns
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
Water to fill to top of crock pot

Throw bones in bottom of crock pot. Wash celery stocks and place on top. No need to cut them and keep the leaves on. They taste good. Wash carrots really well. No need to peel or cut them if you are using whole carrots. Throw them in the crock pot. Cut onion in half. Leave skin on. This is the lazy way, remember? Throw in the crock pot. Throw in 4 cloves of garlic. Don't peel them just throw them in. Throw in paprika, peppercorns and salt. Then fill with water to the top. Cook on low until you have time to deal with it but at least 8 hours. I have cooked for 10 hours and then kept warm for several hours. You basically can not mess this up.

Remove the crock and let cool for about 30 minutes so that you can better handle everything. Use a straining spoon to remove everything that isn't liquid from the crockpot. Throw it away.

Put in a container (I use a pitcher and a mason jar) and put in the refrigerator overnight (or while you are at work if you cooked it overnight). The very little tiny bit of fat in this will rise to the top. Spoon it off and throw it away.

There you have it- wonderful, flavorful and easy chicken stock. If you keep things like carrots, celery, garlic and onions around the house this should probably cost you less than $1. You can store this in the refrigerator for 5 days or you can freeze it until kingdom come. I freeze it in plastic bags and then I lay them flat. That way I can just stack them up. I put 4 cups of stock in some bags and 2 cups of stock in other bags. Those are the amounts that most recipes call for.

Optional things that you can put into the stock at the beginning:
Parsley
Italian Seasoning

I hope that you enjoy this "recipe." This is part 2 of a 4 part blog series entitled: 1 almost 5 pound chicken, three meals I hope that you will check out the first posting below.

One almost 5 pound chicken, three delicious meals

2010-04-06T11:48:00.005-04:00

Are you in on the secret? No, I'm not taking about that book that describes how to wish things into being. *eye roll* I am talking about cooking from your pantry and fridge/freezer. Everything I need to make for this series was found in my own house. Three complete meals (plus leftovers) from what I have already in my house. The chicken came from the full size freezer in my garage. I purchased it in November 2009 for $2.41. This week I will be sharing with you one way to cook once and eat three different meals from the leftovers.

When we first got married my husband informed me that he did not like leftovers. Well, I started brainstorming because, as a family of two, we have a lot of leftovers. Americans waste so much food by letting leftovers and other foods go bad and I didn't want us to contribute to that. (Here's an article by The Discovery Channel) So I decided that rather than serve my husband roasted chicken three nights in a row I would come up with a plan to "re-make" the leftovers into a completely new meal. Also, we are snobs and only really like eating white meat. We can save a ton of money by buying a whole chicken rather than just the breasts so I needed a way to "hide" the dark meat to make us want to eat it. Thus, the roasted chicken to chicken stock to chicken soup to chicken salad journey began.

Since I started cooking this way it has become one of my favorite time and money saving tricks. Last night I got home from work, prepped my chicken (I'll tell you more about that later) and then put it in the oven to roast for about 1 hour, 40 minutes. The first night that I make roasted chicken I make mashed potatoes and gravy to go with it.

How I roast chicken- a tutorial by a semi-OCD germ freak

You will need:
1 chicken- take out and throw away the nastiness that is stuffed in the cavity. Try not to look at it. Wash your hands 5 times and try to forget it ever existed.
Paper towels
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
Seasoning mix (example: garlic herb, lemon pepper, etc use your favorite)
kosher salt (only a little if the seasoning mix contains any)
freshly ground pepper (life is too short to use fake pepper from a can)
1 teaspoon paprika (I don't care what other kind of seasoning you use- you need paprika because it tastes good and it give the chicken a nice color)
1 lemon cut into 4 chunks
1 small onion cut into 4 chunks
2 cloves garlic- don't cut just smash it
1 basting brush
something to roast the chicken in- sometimes I use a large corning ware oval dish last night I used a 9X13 nonstick pan
oven mitts (duh)
cutting board
foil
really sharp knife
1 small saucepan
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chicken stock
whisk
mashed potatoes-use your own recipe

Step 1:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dry off the outside of the chicken really well using paper towels. This is what will allow you have a crispy golden skin. Throw away the paper towels and wash your hands 5 times.

Step 2:
Combine your seasoning blend, the salt, the pepper and the paprika in a small ramekin. Put the olive oil in another ramekin. Brush the outside of the chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle the seasoning mix one with one hand and use the other to rub it in. Use the same hand to flip the chicken. Use the "clean hand" to brush olive oil on the other side and then sprinkle with the seasoning mix. Use your "dirty hand" to rub it in. Use your "dirty hand" to put the chicken in the roasting pan breast side up. Use your "dirty hand" to shove the lemon, onion and garlic into the chicken cavity.

Step 3:
Wash your hands 5 times and swear that you will never again roast a chicken because surely it cannot be worth all this (5 minutes of) effort. Place chicken into oven. Set timer for 1 hour, 40 minutes. Go sit on the couch and watch TV and try to forget that you just touched a raw chicken.

Step 4:
With 30 minutes to go on the oven start making your mashed potatoes and any other side dish that requires cooking. Tip: you don't have to cook salad- I'm just saying. You've done enough with touching the raw chicken.

Step 5:
Take chicken out of oven. Test for doneness. Remove from roasting pan to cutting board and tent with foil.

Step 6:
Finish mashed potatoes. Keep warm.

Step 7:
Pour juices and tasty bits into a small sauce pan. Combine butter and flour into a paste using a fork. Whisk into the chicken juices. If gravy is too thick add chicken stock (it usually is too thick).

Step 8:
Carve chicken (there are how to videos all over the Internet). Our family of two eats one and a half breasts. Serve roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Moan because it is so good. Be forced to share with any furry children that live in your house, especially one large cat with a chicken addiction.

After dinner remove all of the leftover meat from the bones. Set aside leftover breast meat for chicken salad. Set aside all the dark meat for chicken noodle soup.

Save the bones! Throw them in a bag and store in the refrigerator. Tomorrow we'll make chicken stock in our crock pot while we work.

The Best Biscuits I have ever eaten

2010-03-05T16:44:00.003-05:00

About a year ago I was perusing my Google Reader when I happened upon a recipe for soft, tender, fluffy biscuits made without shortening. I was so excited as cutting shortening into flour ranks as #2 on my list of things I hate to do in the kitchen. In case you are wondering, peeling things is #1.

These biscuits contain no fats or liquid other than heavy cream. Now, reader, in case you don't know butter is made by beating heavy cream until your arm falls off. Alternatively, you can put it in a mason jar and shake it until your arm falls off. So don't go thinking these are healthy for you or anything.

I have made these biscuits several times over the last year and they never disappoint. Be careful top work them only as much as you absolutely need to so that you don't overdevelop the gluten and make hockey pucks instead of biscuits. Gluten basically is the stuff in bread that makes yeast breads chewy. Great if you are making pizza dough... not so great if you are trying to make fluffy biscuits.

I found this recipe on the Delish blog but the original recipe is from Cooks Illustrated. I would have been happy to provide a link to Cooks Illustrated directly, however I'm not willing to subscribe to their website in order to do so. :-)

Cream Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pat the dough into a 3/4-inch thick circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a 2 or 2-1/2″ biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

The baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 hours. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Yields: 1 dozen 2″ biscuits

Cinnamon Apple Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal

2010-02-15T13:54:00.005-05:00

I am sorry for the lack of updates lately. My mother had surgery a couple of weeks ago and is still at a rehab facility getting better every day! I have been running around like a mad woman visiting her, washing her clothes, finding books for her and also taking care of my husband and household. I have been exhausted, to say the least, and haven't really been cooking. If I have cooked it has been the most basic and simple things known to man. Like grilled cheese sandwiches. If y'all need a recipe for grilled cheese sandwiches then you need more help than I can provide. :-)

One thing that I really like to do is to make hot breakfasts on the weekends, especially if my husband isn't working. During the week we grab muffins that I thaw from the freezer or granola bars so it is nice to have something warm once in a while. It is even better when I can make a healthy, filling breakfast that is cheap!

Penny for penny homemade oatmeal is one of the best things that your money can buy. First of all, it is cheap! I have gotten all kinds of deals this winter for old fashioned rolled oats, my oatmeal preference. Second of all, oatmeal is very, very healthy. I'm not a nutritionist so if you want more information I suggest you consult Dr. Google as I have heard it called (by OHmommy of www.classychaos.com she is hilarious!).

Here's my own recipe for oatmeal

1 apple (use your favorite)
1 3/4 cups milk
big pinch of kosher or sea salt
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
1 cup old fashioned quick cooking (not instant) oats
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped pecans

1. Peel, core and finely dice apple. Set aside.

2. In a medium sauce pan heat milk to boiling. Add in the dried cranberries, the cinnamon and the apple while milk is heating up.

3. Once the milk is boiling add in the oats. Reduce heat and stir often until cooked, 3-5 minutes. If you notice the oats look very dry right away you may need to add a bit more milk, up to 1/4 cup more.

4. While the oats are cooking toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat, watching them very carefully. They will burn quickly so err on the side of under toasted if this is your first time toasting nuts on top of the stove.

5. When the oats are done, remove from heat and allow to sit for a couple of minutes. Dish up into bowls and top with toasted pecans.

It doesn't get much easier, cheaper, healthier or yummier than this!

What is your favorite breakfast food? Do you have any time saving tips for making a hot breakfast during the week? I would love to hear from you!

Sauteed Zucchini

2010-01-27T11:29:00.004-05:00

I love zucchini and my favorite way to prepare it is by thinly slicing it into coins, battering it and deep frying it. That is not exactly health conscious though and it is MESSY. So I was thinking of what I really like about that recipe and decided to take those elements and make a sauteed version that would be lower in fat and just as yummy. This is what I came up with:

Sauteed Zucchini

3 small Zucchini
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder
grated Parmesan cheese, if desired

1. Cut off ends of zucchini and cut in half lengthwise. Then slice into 1/4 inch thick half moon slices.
2. Heat olive oil in small stainless steel fry pan over medium heat until very hot.
3. Add zucchini, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
4. Cook, stirring sparingly until zucchini is softened and lightly browned.
5. If desired, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

I served this the other night with my Ham and Cheese Quiche so I did not sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese.

Ham and Cheese Quiche

2010-01-27T11:02:00.006-05:00

I love to make quiche. It is my absolute favorite way to use up leftovers. Well, maybe pizza is. Ok if I never ate anything besides quiche and pizza (and ice cream) for the rest of my life I could be happy. But if I did, then I wouldn't have all these yummy leftovers to use up!

As I told you earlier this week I bought 20 packages of cheese over the weekend. I also had some leftover ham and I always have eggs so the first thing that came to mind was ham and cheese quiche.

I remember as recently as a year ago I would buy a frozen pie crust and think that I was getting a good deal because it was only $1.00. Ha! I don't love making my own and I certainly don't love washing my 25 year old non dishwasher safe food processor, or as I like to call it the tank, but I sure do love those savings!

I use the Better Homes and Gardens single pie crust recipe. Since I follow the directions exactly, I'll just link to that recipe.

Here is my own original "filling" recipe:

7 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

6 ounces cheddar cheese, 2 ounces reserved

1 cup diced ham

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp mustard powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp pepper (please do not use fake pepper in the can)

pinch garlic powder

1 prebaked pie crust

1. Prebake the pie crust according to the recipe.

2. Whip eggs & milk together until they are light and frothy.

3. Add all other ingredients except for the 2 ounces of reserved cheddar cheese, stir together until well combined.

4. Pour into prebaked pie crust.

5. Sprinkle remaining 2 ounces cheese over top of quiche.

6. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 1 hour.

7. Let cool 10 minutes before serving to allow the quiche to fully set.

I am going to start adding serving suggestions to my recipe posts because that is something that always interests me on the blogs that I read. I love reading what others serve with things. It just gives me so many ideas!

Serving suggestions:

Citrus Spinach Salad

basic chopped salad

sauteed zucchini

An example of why I use coupons & shop sales

2010-01-25T11:01:00.005-05:00

Hubs and I eat a lot of cheese. I mean A LOT. We love quesidillas for quick dinners or lunches and grilled cheese sandwiches frequently make an appearance on our dinner table with tomato soup. That isn't even counting pizza night or one of our favorite meals... my homemade macaroni & cheese.

I logged onto Southern Savers yesterday and just about fell out of my chair when I realized that I could make money buying Kraft cheese, but only for that one day. I don't exactly like shopping on Sunday and I certainly don't like planning last minute trips but I felt the results would be worth it. Well I just finished doing all the math, and friends let me tell you it was SO worth it. I'll break down my transactions for you below.

I just want to give another shout out to Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom for hosting the eat from the pantry challenge. If I had not participated there is no way that I would have been able to purchase 20 bars/bags of Kraft cheese yesterday.

I made two trips to two different Krogers and did a total of four transactions. The first Kroger was in the afternoon and it was crowded and they were almost out of cheese. The second Kroger is where I go if I have trouble finding things. It is a little out of my way but if the deals are great I think it is worth it. I made that stop on my way home from my parents' house.

I bought 20 bars/bags of cheese but I only got 5 from the store that was running low. I got the other 15 at 10:30 the day the Catalina deal ended and that store still had plenty of cheese left. Sure I would have loved to do everything that afternoon, but I believe in being courteous to other shoppers.

1st transaction:
3 bars cheese
2 bags cheese
1 Tazo chai (not mega)
1 Pillsbury Toaster Struedel
1 Daisy sour cream
1 chex mix
1 snyders
1 punch (not mega)
1 Krusteaz muffins

Total spent: $9.41
Total saved: $25.57
Catalina: $5.00

#2:
5 bars cheese
1 goldfish
1 ICBINB
1 Nature valley nut clusters
1 Quaker chewy granola bar

Total: $.09
Saved: $32.45
Catalina: $5.00

#3:
1 Wheat Thins
1 Ritz
4 Rotel
5 bars cheese
Total: $3.15
Saved: $17.70
Catalina: $5.00

#4:
5 bars cheese
2 Halls
2 Rotel
1 goldfish
1 Green Giant Steamfresh
hmmm it appears that I messed up & shouldn't have gotten my $5 off but its there so are the halls part of the deal? Anyways, it was an error I wasn't trying to cheat.
Total: $1.57
Saved: 19.85
Kroger card: $5.00 (catalina wouldn't print I'm fine with them doing it this way)

Total spent (pre-tax to determine percentage saved) : $13.25
Total saved: $100.57 (includes $5.00 gift card)
Saved percentage: 88%

If you want information on how I got such great deals please go visit Jenny at Southern Savers. She has all the best match ups for the southern region each week. She puts a ton of time & effort into her website and gives us all the information we could ever need for FREE. I can't say enough great things about Jenny!

Please help Haiti

2010-01-15T21:22:00.002-05:00

I just finished a large mug of hot cocoa while watching one of my favorite shows. I'm nice and toasty warm in my home cuddled up with my dogs. My husband is in the next chair over laughing along with me to the show. We're safe. We're provided for. But tonight in a tiny country far away there are many, many people in danger. Without food. Without comfort. Without a home. They need our help. They need our prayers. They need our support.

Tomorrow my husband and I will be making a donation to The Salvation Army to assist in their relief efforts. Won't you please consider making a donation too? There are many great relief agencies out there on the front lines right now doing everything they can to help. Right now, while I sit at home and sip my cocoa.

Tonight and every night for the foreseeable future I'll be keeping the people of Haiti in my prayers. Won't you consider praying with me?

There are many bloggers today who are making donations for every blog entry linked up on their sites. I am especially touched by Money Saving Mom's efforts in organizing these donations and in her & her husband's very generous donation of $10.00 per blog link today. She always tells us that they live like no one else so that they can give like no one else and I think we are seeing today exactly what she is talking about. I'll be linking this post up to:

Mommy Snacks

The Diaper Diaries

Lamp Unto My Feet

Scrapbook of Sorts

Mom's Toolbox

Cha-ching on a Shoestring

Thrifty Northwest Mom

Saving Money Plan

The Happy Housewife

4 Hats and Frugal

Cincinnati Coupons

Baby Goodbuys

Another Mom's View

The King's Court

The Frugal Girl

Mrs. Moneysaver

SwagGrabber

Puget Sound Prudence

Saving Money in Missouri

Heavenly Homemakers

Pennies and Blessings

Faithful Provisions

She Saved

Saving with Amy

The Prudent Patron

I Heart Publix (side note: this happens to be one of my favorite blogs)

Frugal Living and Having Fun

A High and Noble Calling

Sharpen Your Scissors

Cincinnati Cents

Coupon Lady Online

Common Sense With Money

The Homespun Heart

Ava's Mom

Bargain Blessings

Coupon Geek

The Gothros

Saving Bits and Pieces

The Suburban Tree Hugger

My Litter of Six

"Deal"ightful Savings

Sixth Cents Savings

Really Are You Serious?

Christian Frugal Mom

Sharpen Your Scissors

The Krazy Coupon Lady

The Stearns' Weekly News

Making Time For Mommy

The Simple Life of the Boreings

The Frugal Find

The Coupon Basics

My Fave Deals

Thrifty on the Dollar

My Blessed Life (Myra is my bloggy homegirl)

Kingdom First Mom

The Thrifty Couple

Frugal Living NW

My Pet Savings

Mama's Laundry Talk

Frugal Follies

The Haney Life

Covenant Homemaking

Coupon Teacher

Mommie Cheapest

Please note: I typed all of these in by hand. If I messed up your blog's name or link please let me know and I will be happy to fix it. Thank you all so much for your generous donations.

Guest post from Katie of Frugal Femina

2010-01-14T10:34:00.003-05:00

Guest Post by Katie Hostetter at Frugal Femina

If you follow me on Twitter, you know exactly what the word "mamavation" means, because I have been eating, sleeping, and breathing it since I applied on January 1st. I am fortunate to have some followers left! :-) Basically, it's a 7-week boot camp to help 2 moms get fit in 2010, and it's supported by Smooth Fitness, Earth Footwear, EA SPORTS Active, Gaiam, Bookie Boo, and MomTV. The team gives you a ton of support with a nutritional plan, a fitness program, and much more! You can watch my application video and read all about my lil' journey over at Frugal Femina.

I am so blessed to have made it into the top 5 finalists. Now I need you to vote daily so I can make it into the final 2! I already shared my measurements with thousands of people, so you know I am committed! ;-) But seriously, this is all part of my quest to make 2010 one of the most positive years ever. I'm finishing up my last semester of nursing school, reading through the Bible in 90 days, taking care of Xon and Bradley {aka Hubs and Little Munchkin}, and trying to take care of myself, too! I'm not Superwoman, but I do want to focus on good things this year and surround myself with good friends and family.

So I'm hopin' you'll cheer me on and head on over to Mamavation and vote. You can vote once a day from each IP address through the 21st. And I won't mind a bit if you happen to spread the word amongst your friends. :-) Maybe I can encourage you all along the way! Mamavation is a great network of support, and you can be involved whether you have 200 pounds to lose or 0. We all need to stay healthy and fit!

Special thanks to Andrea at Mommy Snacks for being my Fit Friend and encouraging me throughout this campaign.

Eating from the Pantry check-in

2010-01-11T09:56:00.004-05:00

Happy Monday! Here's my update:

Wednesday: Made pizza and citrus spinach salad for dinner.

Thursday: Packed breakfast and lunch for hubs & me. Made burritos, refried beans & corn for dinner.

Friday: Packed breakfast and lunch for hubs. I had nachos with leftover ingredients from the burritos for lunch when I got home from work (I leave work early on Fridays). For dinner we went out to eat as was planned. It is a very long and complicated story involving how a "restaurant" turned into a "bar" and thus no longer has a kitchen to make food in. So couldn't use a restaurant.com gift certificate. We went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday because I had a coupon for $5.00 off (it was one from the buy a gift card get a coupon promotion they were running at Christmas). Then in the paper yesterday there were buy one get one free coupons for Ruby Tuesday. Hubs and I both thought that was funny that such a good coupon would come out two days after we ate there. Anyways, moving on...

Saturday: Packed lunch & breakfast for hubs. I was home so ate breakfast and lunch there. For dinner made Mandarin Orange Chicken from Trader Joes and Steamfresh Rice both from our freezer. I told hubs that we're going to Trader Joe's next week and I'm buying case loads of that Mandarin Chicken. So good! Also, I was really impressed with the Steamfresh rice, especially since it was free thanks to the powers of couponing. Oh and we also had pineapple.

Sunday: BFF came over to hang out and brought lunch for us (hubs was at work). After hubs got home in the middle of the afternoon he was feeling snacky so I made homemade popcorn. Oh golly is that good! For dinner I made Falling Off The Bone Chicken Wings, Brown Rice Pilaf, steamed carrots and pineapple again. What can I say, I love pineapple!

I packed both of us breakfast and lunch today. Hubs is working late so not sure yet what I'll do about dinner but I might go ahead and make the hot dogs and chili anyways. Later in the week I have leftover nights scheduled. I don't have any leftovers so I might roast a chicken or make the balsamic chicken that I haven't made yet.

I know I'm not exactly following my meal plan but I like having flexibility when I need it. For example, hubs loves Hamburger Helper so I make it for him every once in a while and had that planned for dinner last night. When I knew that my BFF was coming over I changed the plans to wings (which really are awesome y'all) 'cause I ain't 'bout to be serving no company no Hamburger Helper. I'm jus' sayin'.

How have y'all been doing with your challenge?

My shopping trip this week

2010-01-09T11:27:00.006-05:00

If this is your first time visiting my blog, welcome! I am eating from the pantry along with Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom (and about 800 others!) so my shopping is limited this month. I just couldn't resist scooping up the deals you see below. I hope that you'll leave me a comment letting me know you stopped by and please come visit me again!

I made a run to Publix on Wednesday this week. I didn't really want to go on Wednesday but they changed the day of their penny item and I just can't resist free stuff. I mean if I am going to buy stuff anyways might as well get something for free to go with it, right?

Here's what I bought:
Publix Tortilla chips- penny item
Cascadian Farms French Fries- we had an avalance from our inside freezer this week and neither of us noticed a bag that fell behind our trashcan. It melted overnight and had to be tossed. There are several meals this week that call for french fries and I got these for $1.00.
Cascadian Farms Tater tots- also $1.00 probably going to make tater tot casserole with cream of mushroom soup and hamburger at some point over the next couple of months. Neither of us has ever had it but I have lots of cream of mushroom soup and hamburer to use.
Wonda gummies X2- free
DiGiorno Flatbread Pizzas X2- was confused about price. Thought they would be $.25/ea and for that price couldn't resist for lunch for hubs on a day when I really don't feel like packing one. Ended up being $1.25, still a good deal
Lenders bagels X2- I prefer making my own but I'm out and at $.50/ea the price was too good not to buy
Stoneyfield Farms yogurt X6- my favorite yogurt. I don't feel bad about buying it at all. At $.13/ea I'm pretty sure it was about the same cost as making my own (which I have done before!)
4 Bartlett pears- $.88/lb
1 Lysol Neutr Air- will be donating to work. I print coupons there and then donate some office things in return. It is a win-win situation!
I spent: $9.47, saved $22.75, of which $14.58 was coupons!

I also asked hubs to go by Aldi yesterday to buy a couple of things
He bought:
2 bags of oranges (I think they are 3 lb each)
1 package mushrooms
He spent around $5.00 (he's at work. I'll update later with exact amount)

So there is my spending for the week. To see how I got such great prices at Publix go to Southern Savers or I Heart Publix.

For Aldi deals go to Deal Seeking Mom.

Eat from the Pantry Challenge - Yummy Homemade Pizza & Citrus Spinach Salad

2010-01-07T20:49:00.008-05:00

Disclaimer: My husband typed and partially wrote this post. If you note a presence of sarcasm that isn't usually here, that is why. Thanks for he help hubs!

Last night for dinner we had pepperoni and pineapple pizza and citrus spinach salad. I am really enjoying making some of our favorite meals straight from our pantry.

I tried a new recipe for the pizza dough with mixed results. I can't believe that only about a year ago I was scared of yeast and now I'm an old pro at making homemade pizza.

I used the recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Celebrating the Promise edition (the pink ribbon one). The recipe calls for you to do things a little bit differently with adding the flour in the mixer, and while I appreciate the shorter rise time, I had a hard time getting everything to come together. I will probably make this again, but I will modify it to make it easier for me. I think that I will add more of the flour at the beginning.

I love throwing together salads with leftover ingredients, and since I had some spinach left over from our New Year's dinner, I knew it would be great to use for a throw-together spinach salad last night.

When Hubs and I were at Trader Joe's [HEART!] for our epic fail on Saturday, we bought the most wonderful orange I have ever eaten (organic, and only 59 cents!). Wish I had bought a caseload. I ~~begged~~ asked Hubs to save me a segment or two for my salad. He grudgingly agreed, but then fed a segment to the dogs! HMPH!

Citrus Spinach Salad
Serves 1

1 cup spinach, whole leaf, stems removed
2 segments navel orange, pith removed
1 T smoked almonds
1/2 tsp pear white balsamic vinegar

1. Place spinach in a small bowl.
2. Cut orange segment into bite sized pieces.
3. Top with smoke almonds and vinegar.

Pizza Dough
From Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Celebrating the Promise Edition p. 150

2 1/2 - 3 c. all purpose flour
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. warm water (120-130 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 T cooking oil or olive oil

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/4 c. of the flour, the yeast, and the salt; add warm water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes total). Divide dough in half, cover; Let rest for 10 minutes.

This is supposed to make 2 pizzas, but because Hubs likes thick pan crusts, I only use it for 1. I have found the miracle trick for making your yeast rise in the winter: Stainless steel nesting bowls. Put the dough in the smaller nesting bowl and put HOT water in the larger bowl. Nest the smaller bowl in the larger bowl and cover with a towel. Make sure to check before the rise is supposed to be done 'cause those suckers get to workin' when they're nice and toasty warm!

Eat from the Pantry- How've I been doing?

2010-01-06T11:49:00.003-05:00

Just a quick little update to let y'all know how I've been doing.

Monday: packed breakfast and lunch for hubs and me. For dinner we had a Hormel Turkey Dinner (http://www.hormel.com/products/refrigerated/HormelRefrigeratedEntrees.aspx) It was ok but we both agreed that mine is better but it sure doesn't take 4 minutes to heat up. :-)

Tuesday: packed breakfast and lunch for hubs and me. For dinner we were supposed to have meatloaf muffins but I was going to switch and have pizza instead since we had mashed potatoes with our turkey the night before. Instead, my in-laws took us out to dinner. Cracker Barrell is never a bad thing!

Wednesday: I skipped breakfast. Didn't pack lunch but hubs is home so he can eat some of the massive quantity of cereal residing in our pantry. I grabbed the January coupon from my Chick-fil-A calendar so I had chicken noodle soup. It was good. I am making that pizza tonight and Crystal's muffins.

I haven't shopped since my trip to Trader Joes. I do want some of those Aldi oranges and some Romaine lettuce though. The new ads in my area start today and I am dying a little on the inside to not be able to get some of these good deals I just keep repeating: "sales are cyclical, sales are cyclical. These deals will come again."

How are you all doing with the challenge?

Eat from the pantry update already thinking about next month and beyond

2010-01-05T13:18:00.005-05:00

When I sat down last week to write out my month long plan I struggled to come up with the final 10 meals. But since then, I seem to have ideas all the time. So I'm going to write some of them down here because I can and should still draw from my freezer and pantry after this challenge is over so that I use up what I have instead of always using the new stuff and letting the things buried go to waste.

Here are some meal ideas. I'll update this post as I think of more:

Falling Off the Bone Chicken Wings- these are by far my favorite wings ever. I would rather make these at home than go out to eat for wings. When I think of wings these are the ones I want. Can you tell I really love them? I always serve them with pineapple because the flavors just seem to go together. I have several packs of wings in the depths of my freezer and the other ingredients (except ketchup... I'm almost out!) so this would have made a good recipe for this month too.
Here's the link to the recipe:
http://dinnerwithmikeandjen.blogspot.com/2008/07/falling-off-bone-chicken-wings-recipe.html

Bourbon Chicken- we love this and I have everything I need to make it (ya know except ketchup). I also serve this with pineapple. I guess I just really like pineapple
Here's the link:
http://dinnerwithmikeandjen.blogspot.com/2008/07/bourbon-chicken-recipe-from-krashed.html
By the way you should really check out the other recipes from Amber's Kitchen. That is one of my favorite food blogs!

Sweet & Sour Chicken- again I already have everything I need. I haven't posted this recipe. I'm not even sure where I got it from to give credit so not sure I'll post that.

Hibachi steak and fried rice- this is Michael's specialty. I like Michael specialties because then I get a night off from cooking!

Can you tell we like Asian food or what?!?

update 1/9/10 I thought of more:
Chicken Parmigiana
Sweet & Sour smoked sausage
chicken bacon ranch pizza
hash brown quiche
beef/chicken/pork fried rice
Sesame Ginger ribs (Asian style of course) & (crock pot)
One pan spaghetti
baked ziti
slow simmered garlic pork chops (crock pot)
Scalloped Potatoes w/ ham (would have to buy potatoes but will need a bag by then anyways)
Oven Fried Chicken (my mom's recipe-so good!)
Nana's Hamburger Gravy (not my nana someone else on Allrecipes or somewhere. Like sausage gravy but with hamburger... so yummy on biscuits!)
Italian Sausage and Potatoes
Chicken fingers with honey sauce
Meatloaf Patties
Pulled Pork (crock pot)
Beef Stew (I don't care what I have to buy to make it... I'm CRAVING it)
Chili (perfect for a cold winter night!)
Baked Potato Soup- Still working on finding that perfect soup that tastes rich and fattening for hubs but is light enough for me.

Now just need to think of a few ways to use sweet potatoes that hopefully hubs will eat. I would also like to think of a way to use some of these yummy Muir Glen tomatoes that I have sitting in my pantry. They are my absolute favorite canned tomato ever and since, thanks to the power of couponing, I get them free all the stinking time, I refuse to buy anything else.

Also, I have tons of instant oatmeal (the stuff in the packets) that I would like to find a way to use. Since we only really eat breakfast at home on the weekends and then I like to make something hot & homemade I have a ton that I've gotten for free or close to it and haven't been using. Unfortunately most of the boxes have been opened (since they're different flavors) with one or two packets removed so I can't donate any. I have made oatmeal muffins before so I was thinking of substituting a package of that for the uncooked rolled oats called for in that recipe. I'll do some experimenting and let you know.

Eat from the pantry challenge update- how I've been doing- Epic Fail

2010-01-04T09:42:00.004-05:00

I have had some success and one gigantic failure so far in the eat from the pantry challenge.

Jan 1- packed hubs lunch & breakfast for work, I was off so I ate leftovers at home for lunch, made beans & greens for dinner (http://dinnerwithmikeandjen.blogspot.com/2010/01/beans-greens-for-new-year-southern.html)

Jan 2- had breakfast in the car on the way to NC. Made Jimmy Dean brown & serve sausages that I had in my freezer and chocolate croissants also from my freezer. Met friends in Charlotte, NC for lunch, ate out lunch, got coffee, drove through for dinner on the way home.

Now, my big failure comes in the form of a sweet surprise from my husband. I have always been mildly obsessed with Trader Joe's. To the point that I email them every 6 months or so and beg for them to build a store where I live. Afterall, there are stores in GA & stores in NC. It would seem that SC is the next logical step, no? So we were going to be there and hubs decided that we were going and I was going to get everything I ever wanted. My in-laws go up a couple of times a year and bring back wonderful things so I had an idea of what I wanted (more chocolate croissants, mini croissants, 2 buck chuck, etc). Spent: almost $76.00 Epic Fail

Jan 3- I packed hubs lunch & breakfast because he worked, I was at home and ate leftovers all day. Was going to make chicken for dinner but it's a really long story involving thinking that I would need to hold it back to make for next Sunday to make for best friend and her boyfriend to come to dinner but now don't need to because he's an ex-boyfriend. Plus, hubs was working WAY late and it's no fun to eat a dinner like that alone. Made hubs a grilled cheese sandwich when he got home. Don't feel bad for him. He loves grilled cheese.

Jan 4- packed lunch & breakfast for me & for hubs. Making a turkey Hormel dinner tonight because noticed that I need to go ahead and use it. Using leftover mashed potatoes from New Year's Eve dinner.

Schedule will resume tomorrow and I've gotta make some muffins tonight because I just can't live without Crystal's pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/06/baking-day-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins.html)

Beans & Greens for the New Year- a southern tradition

2010-01-04T09:22:00.003-05:00

Please note: There isn't much of a recipe for the way I make my beans & greens so I've put the discription of what I do in purple down at the bottom.

If you've taken a look around this here blog of mine you may have noticed a distinct lack of posts related to the part of the country in which I live. There is a reason for that... I like to try new things! Sometimes though, it is good to give in to tradition and have those familiar foods from one's childhood. New Years Day is just one of those occasions. In my family we always had black eyed peas, collards & rutabaga for New Years Day dinner. Now I don't think the rutabaga was for any other reason than that my daddy just likes them. There are many reasons why you eat beans and greens on New Years Day and many stories for what they stand for. Here are the reasons that I was always told:

The beans represent your coin money and if you want to have some coins jingling around in your pocket for the new year you better eat yourself some beans on New Years Day.

The beans are always cooked with pork (duh what does a southerner not cook with pork?) and that represents several things. First, you want to live high on the hog and second, it is physically impossible, or so I have been told, for a pig to turn its head around and look behind it. Therefore, it is always looking forward just as we should not worry about the hard times of last year but look forward to the good times in the new year.

The greens represent your paper money and I think we all want to be having some of that in our wallet. It is said that the more you eat the more money you'll have.

For more info please see The Southern Plate: http://www.southernplate.com/2009/12/black-eyed-peas-for-new-years-day-and-why.html for your history lesson (I always learn something new there!) and her reasons for eating your beans on New Years Day.

Instead of black eyed peas I make pinto beans at the request of my husband. I would prefer the black eyed peas but since I want us both to have some change jingling in our pockets I make pinto beans so he'll eat them too.

I like the one hour soak method just because.

Put your beans in the bottom of a large pot, cover with water to one inch above the beans, bring to a boil uncovered, cover, remove from heat and let sit an hour. Drain the icky water off of them.

Now, the water that I actually cook the beans in I like to simmer all day with the ham hock in it. I don't cook my beans all day. Once they've been soaked they only need to cook for about an hour. If I just put the ham hock in with the beans for an hour the beans wouldn't pick up as much of the ham flavor. So I simmer the bone in the water that I'm going to cook the beans in all day, then I take it out, remove the ham and then put the ham and the water in with the beans to simmer about an hour. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with cornbread for sopping up the juices.

Now to a southerner greens usually mean collards (although turnip greens also pass) but well, here's the thing, I don't like them! I do like Spinach though and last time I checked it was green. So I just take a handful, remove the steams and throw them in a little skillet with a drop of two of olive oil, a sprinkle of kosher salt and a grind of pepper. I just wilt them down a bit and they're done in a matter of moments.

So there you go, that's what we ate for the New Year!

January 2010 Eat from the Pantry Challenge and meal plan

2009-12-31T10:56:00.003-05:00

Well I took the first step in not buying groceries in January, I took an inventory (not a very detailed one) and I've made out a meal plan for the ENTIRE month. Hold me because this took forever and also I had to rework it because I had planned mashed potatoes nearly every night all month long. Now, I'm Irish so I wouldn't mind and hubs loves my mashed potatoes so he wouldn't complain either but I am thinking that we probably need more variety in our diet. You'll notice I repeat the same vegetables over and over and over. Well, hubs doesn't eat vegetables so I tend to stick to my favorites which tend to be cheaper anyways. If I'm only making them for myself might as well get what I want, right?

I have included breakfasts and lunches too since I pack us breakfasts to eat at our desks or on the road and we each take our luches to work.

Breakfasts:
muffins- blueberry, pumpkin chocolate chip, dried fruit
granola bars
yogurt

Lunches:
leftovers
sandwiches
quesidillas
soup
salads (chicken, egg, etc)
homemade mac n cheese

Dinners:
Friday, Jan 1, 2010
Traditional southern with a twist
pinto beans w/ ham, sauteed spinach (I don't like my vegetables cooked within an inch of their lives like most southerners)

Saturday, Jan 2, 2010
We are meeting some friends out of state for lunch so not sure what time we will be home. It will either be see food (see food, eat food) or leftovers from New Year's

Sunday, Jan 3, 2010
Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans

Monday, Jan 4, 2010
chicken noodle soup made with leftover roasted chicken and homemade stock that simmered in the crock pot all night

Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010
Meatloaf muffins, rice pilaf, broccoli

Wednesday, Jan 6, 2010
pizza w/ pepperoni and pineapple, spinach salad w/ mandarin oranges, almonds and pear vinegar dressing

Thursday, Jan 7, 2010
Taco night with refried beans and corn

Friday, Jan 8, 2010
leftovers or date night

Saturday, Jan 9, 2010
hamburger helper (don't judge my husband makes me do it), roasted carrots

Sunday, Jan 10, 2010
balsamic chicken breasts, rice pilaf, green beans

Monday, Jan 11, 2010
hot dogs w/ chili, french fries, fruit

Tuesday, Jan 12, 2010
chili bowls with chili, fritos, cheese & sour cream, carrot sticks

Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010
leftovers

Thursday, Jan 14, 2010
leftovers

Friday, Jan 15, 2010
spaghetti with fresh pasta, garlic bread & zuc coins

Saturday, Jan 16, 2010
Chicken Marsala, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans

Sunday, Jan 17, 2010
dirty risotto, fruit

Monday, Jan 18, 2010
Parmesan crusted pork chops, roasted potatoes, carrots & parsnips

Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010
welsh rarebit, broccoli, fruit

Wednesday, Jan 20, 2010
hamburger helper, fruit

Thursday, Jan 21, 2010
leftovers

Friday, Jan 22, 2010
Patty melts, french fries, fruit

Saturday, Jan 23, 2010
Dunbar macaroni, salad

Sunday, Jan 24, 2010
Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted parsnips

Monday, Jan 25, 2010
chicken salad, fruit

Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010
Swedish meatballs, egg noodles, carrots

Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010
Stuffed pork chops, broccoli

Thursday, Jan 28, 2010
breakfast for dinner- breakfast potatoes, sausage, eggs, fruit

Friday, Jan 29, 2010
date! I'm gonna need a break after all this cooking!

Saturday, Jan 30, 2010
pizza with Italian sausage, peppers & onion

Sunday, Jan 31, 2010
Stuffed baked potatoes with bacon, broccoli, caramelized onions and fruit

The end. I'm tired just thinking about it.

Ultimate Recipe Swap Janet's Cheeseball and Ann's Open House Meatballs

2009-12-31T10:32:00.003-05:00

Hi! Jessica aka Fishmama of http://www.lifeasmom.com/ asked us to share our favorite appetizer recipes. As soon as I think of appetizers I think of two recipes, my mother's meatballs and my cousin's cheese ball.

Janet is my cousin. She is my first cousin but because of the age gap in my family she has children my age. She is a wonderful wife, mother and woman and I am so happy to have her as part of my family and not just because she makes a darn good cheese ball that takes 3 minutes to throw together.

Janet's Cheese ball

1 package cream cheese (you can use reduced fat or fat free)
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
2 Tablespoons garlic pepper blend (example McCormick's or Jane's Crazy Mixed up Pepper)

Soften cream cheese. Place in a small bowl. Mix with dry Italian dressing mix. (I usually use a fork for this).

Put a layer of the garlic pepper blend on a small salad plate. Dump the cream cheese mixture on the plate and roll around to form a ball and coat outside with the garlic pepper blend.

Allow to sit for several hours for flavors to blend. I usually put it back in the refrigerator and then pull it out an hour before serving.

Serve with crackers and for goodness sakes don't tell your guests how easy it was!

Ann's Open House Meatballs

1 package frozen meatballs (or you can make your own- I usually make my own and freeze them and then use those)
1 small bottle ketchup
1 can beer (use anything or you can use root beer if you would prefer)

Mix beer and ketchup in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until boiling. Add in frozen meatballs, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until sauce thickens and meatballs are heated through.

Please check out the other posts here:
www.lifeasmom.com/2009/12-urs-new-years-meals-and-munchies.html

If this is your first time visiting Welcome and thank you for visiting me. Please feel free to leave me a comment.

Eat From the Pantry Challenge

2009-12-29T09:36:00.002-05:00

Hi. Long time no talk to. Sorry I'm not very good (ok so not good at all) at this blogging thing. One of my goals for 2010 is going to be posting more and I am going to kick it off in January by participating in the eat from the pantry challenge.

Crystal over at Money Saving Mom and FishMama from Life as Mom are hosting this challenge and encouraging us to use up what we have in our pantry and freezers and greatly reduce our shopping at the store.

I'm just gonna be honest here for a second. My pantry, it overfloweth. To the point that I can't find ANYTHING! I need a much better organization system but I think that the best way to do that is to use some of this up. Now, I'm not going to go an entire month without buying groceries and my goals are a little different from everyone else's. There are some things that I'm not very well stocked on (boneless skinless chicken breasts for example) and if they go on sale at my buy price ($1.79-$1.99/lb.) I am going to buy some. But, since I am planning to use several pounds this month that will be ok.

I will continue to buy milk, bread (maybe I'll make it one week but I'm not going to commit myself to that), fresh vegetables and I'll probably need eggs, sour cream, etc at some point. I will continue to coupon so that I can get these things at the best possible price.

I'm starting to think about meals that I could make from my pantry. There are several favorites that come to mind:

Homemade mac 'n cheese
Dunbar Macaroni
Meatloaf
Chicken Marsala
Chili
Pulled pork
tacos
stuffed pork chops
roasted chicken- which also turns into chicken noodle soup and chicken salad
Carne asada- which also turns into steak quesidillas
Patty Melts

I'll keep thinking and will take inventory some time over the next couple of days to get ready. This is exciting... and scary!

Go to www.moneysavingmom.com and www.lifeasmom.com to learn more about how others are approaching this challenge!

Apple Porkchop Bake

2009-10-08T13:54:00.002-04:00

This is what I served for dinner on Wednesday night. It is easy and oh so delicious. I loved it and hubby not only loved it, he requested that I set aside the leftover apples for him. He doesn't usually like leftovers so that was a pretty big thing for him. The pork chops were moist and the apples were delicious. This recipe is my own but it is roughly based on a recipe by Bisquick called Fall Pork Dinner (Cooking for 2).

Here's what I did:

2 1/2 inch thick bone in pork chops (the ugly ones that my mother-in-law calls baking pork chops)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon butter (or Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend sticks)
1 tablespoon olive oil

4 large apples use what you like
1 tablespoon butter (or Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend sticks)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
big pinch nutmeg
big pinch all spice

1. Combine flour, seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder on a plate. Dredge pork chops in flour on both sides and shake off excess. Set aside.

2. Heat oil and 1 Tablespoon butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops to skillet and brown on both sides until crispy.

3. Place pork chops in a 9X13 inch glass baking dish. Blot off excess oil with a paper towel.

4. Peel, core and chop, slice or cube apples (whichever you prefer). Place in 9X13 inch dish on top of and around pork chops.

5. Dice the remaining Tablespoon of butter and combine with brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and all spice to form large crumbs. Sprinkle on top of apples.

6. Cover the 9X13 inch pan with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until pork chops are fully cooked and apples are soft.

Now a side note: I have been using the Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend sticks that I got for nearly free a few weeks ago exclusively since then. My husband is a butter fiend and he hasn't noticed. I have used them for toast, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, in baking and in this recipe. I highly recommend this product and will continue to buy it. Smart Balance doesn't know who I am or that I am writing this. I just like to share products that I love. :-)

In honor of the first day of Fall

2009-09-22T19:33:00.003-04:00

my first soup recipe of the season. Tonight I made Cheesy Ham & Potato soup using ingredients that I had in my pantry and fridge/freezer. It was absolutely delicious but I need to figure out how to keep the potatoes from getting so mushy they fall apart. If you have any suggestions leave a comment and let me know. I would love to hear from you! I am sharing this recipe because even with crumbly potatoes it was so yummy!

Cheesy Ham & Potato Soup

4 cups chicken stock (I use homemade)
1 cup water
4-5 medium potatoes
1/2 of a ham steak (packaged slice of ham)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can of milk
shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat the chicken stock and water over medium-high heat to boiling. Add garlic powder, onion powder and paprika to stock. If you use low sodium stock you may need to add salt or you can adjust the seasonings in the end. While the stock is heating dice the potatoes. Add to the stock and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes.

2. Add the cheddar cheese soup and milk. Cook until warmed through. Serve sprinkled with cheddar cheese.

I hope you make this and enjoy!

I calculated in my head how much this cost for 6 servings and it is around $4.00 so if you can get the ingredients on sale you have a very comforting and thrifty meal.

Drop what you are doing and go sign up for Vocalpoint

2009-09-22T14:13:00.002-04:00

Let's talk about Vocalpoint today. I joined a few months ago after seeing posts about it on several of my favorite blogs and websites and really loved the idea of it. Vocalpoint sends out samples, high value coupons (sometimes even free item!) for you and also really great coupons for you to share. I love being a member of Vocalpoint because I have had the opportunity to try several really great products.

One of my favorites recently is Kashi Honey Sunshine Cereal. My husband is anti-health food so I got him to try it and he LOVED it. He thinks it tastes like Captain Crunch. It is slightly sweet and crunchy and is also great for snacking on dry. I have loved handing out the coupons for that product for my friends and family to try because I know that I'm not only giving them the opportunity to try something really great, but that it is also good for them.

I highly encourage all of you to go to www.vocalpoint.com and sign up for this great site. The only thing that they ask of you is to pass on the coupons and to review the products on their site. I haven't been that great about reviewing the products on the site as I tend to be much more likely to tell everyone I know in real life when I like something but look for more product reviews on this site and I am going to try really hard to post more directly to the Vocalpoint website.

Got a great Target coupon book in the mail today

2009-09-21T18:13:00.003-04:00

I just got home from a great trip to Publix (more details later) and opened my mailbox to find a great coupon book from Target. All of the coupons expire 11/02/2009.

The book says Savor the Moment. Seize the Coupons. Here is what is inside:

$.75 off Tide laundry detergent (excludes trial size)
$.50 off Clorox bleach
$1.00 off Cottonelle (Bath tissue or flushable wipes)
$1.00 off Bounty paper towels
$1.50 off with the purchase of two Crest toothpastes (excludes trial size)
$1.00 off Dial (Bar soap or Body wash- excludes trial sizes)
$1.00 off with the purchase of two deodorants (Secret or Old Spice- excludes trial sizes)
$1.00 off with the purchase of two feminine care products (Always or Tampax-excludes trial sizes)
$.50 off Ziploc (bags or containers)
$1.00 off Swiffer (starter kit or refills)
$1.00 off 35-ct or larger Clorox disinfecting wipes
$1.00 off Right Guard deodorant (excludes trial sizes
$1.00 off multipack Extra gum
$1.00 off with purchase of two Ore-Ida frozen potatoes
$.50 off Kellogg's (cereal or Pop-Tarts)
$1.00 off Nestle Halloween bulk candy (shows large packages and note that it doesn't expire until after Halloween so you can wait until it goes on clearance!)
$1.00 off with purchase of two Suave hair care products (excludes trial sizes)
$1.00 off Neutrogena facial product (excludes trial sizes)
$1.00 off Iams (dry dog food or dry cat food)
$2.00 off 21-lb or larger Fresh Step scoopable cat litter
$2.00 off Purina ONE dry dog food
$1.00 off Purina ONE dry cat food
$1.00 off Purina dog treats
$1.00 off 13- or 30-oz Purina ONE wet dog food
$1.00 off Oral care product (1-liter or larger Listerine or Reach Total Care toothbrush or Reach Total Care floss-excludes trial sizes)
$1.00 off Hanes apparel (socks or underwear)
$1.00 off 6-ct or larger Market Pantry (Granola or cereal bars)
$1.00 off with purchase of two 8-oz or larger Archer Farms trail mixes
$1.00 off with purchase of three 8-oz. or larger Archer Farms chips
$1.00 off with purchase of two 64-oz Market Pantry juice drinks
$.75 off 11.25-oz or larger Market Pantry cereal
$.50 off Archer Farms salsa

I will do a little digging and see if I can figure out how I got this so that maybe you can get one too!

Did you get anything fun in the mailbox today? Leave me a comment and let me know!

September 21, 1989

2009-09-21T10:23:00.002-04:00

Twenty years ago today in a tiny town in South Carolina a young girl looked out of the window at her grandparent's house across the land that she loved and watched as a terrible storm swept through the countryside. What she saw that night was only a tiny fraction of the impact that Hurricane Hugo would have on her state. As she ate pumpkin pie and watched Doogie Howser, M.D., the monster, as she would hear it called, was ripping apart homes, destroying landmarks and eroding the beaches that she loved.

She would get home a few days later and see that the fence in her yard had been knocked down, tree branches littered the yard and things just generally looked amiss. When she would exclaim "oh no the fence is down" her mother would remind her "be thankful that it was only the fence, some lost all."

Today this woman remembers those that lost all. Where is this woman twenty years later? She still lives in the Midlands of South Carolina, the land that she loves so much that it is a part of her. She is on constant alert during Hurricane season because she knows how much destruction one "storm" can cause. The mere sound of thunder leaves her with the desire to hide under her desk until it is all over. I carry this with me but I also carry a sense of gratitude that my family and loved ones escaped most of the harm of the storm.

I mourn for the lives lost, the families that lost everything that they had and for the historical monuments and artifacts that were lost in the storm that can never be replaced.

That is my Hugo story, most South Carolinians that lived here during that time have one. I invite you to share yours, if you are so inclined.

A great HomeGoods giveaway

2009-09-17T23:57:00.002-04:00

Amy from Cheeky Monkey Play is giving away a $100.00 HomeGoods giftcard! Go to her website at: http://cheekymonkeyplay.blogspot.com/2009/09/homegoods-and-blogher.html and enter to win!

Good luck to you all!
The Diva

Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers Sweet Hickory BBQ Chicken Product Review

2009-09-16T12:46:00.004-04:00

Disclaimer: Healthy Choice has never heard of me. This is an unsolicited and unpaid review of a product that I had never tried, is fairly new and have not seen a review of. This is my opinion, hopefully Healthy Choice won't mind.

There is a great coupon out there right now (link below) to save $2.00 off a Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers. I bought 2 at Publix on Sunday. They were priced at 2/$5 ($2.50 each) so after my coupons I paid only $.50 each! Now that is what I call a cheap lunch!

I was in a hurry this morning so I didn't take the time to pack my lunch like I normally do and it was very convenient having this in my pantry to fall back on.

Here is what the front of the package looks like:
Apparantly I'm an idiot. I tried to upload a picture but it didn't work. I'll have hubby help me later. Picture to come!

The instructions call to add water to the rice at the bottom of the container and to steam in the microwave with the specially made top for 5 minutes. You then let it sit for one minute and then combine with the meat, veggie & sauce container that also comes in the package. You have the option of microwaving the meat, veggie & sauce container for 30 seconds. I chose to as I did not think that it would be very appetizing at room temperature.

Now here's what I think about it now that you have the background info: Was this gourmet? Absolutely not. Was it easy? You betcha. Was it satisfying? Yes. Was it as good as I can make at home? Oh no. Was I at home to make it? Nope. In other words, I wouldn't pull this out of the pantry for dinner one night just because I was feeling lazy, but for lunch on a lazy day it serves its purpose. It is good enough and worlds better than those nasty Ronzoni pasta pouches. Do not try those... I couldn't even finish the one I tried a few months ago and instead preferred just to go without lunch that day.

Here's a look at the nutritional information:

Not bad overall for this type of product. I would really like to see them do something with brown rice, but I understand that may be hard to do in a product like this where it is steamed in the microwave and time is of the essence. I certainly wouldn't want to wait half of my lunch break for my food to finish microwaving so I understand if they are unable to do so, but it would still be nice to have that option. :-)

The deals as I see them

2009-09-15T19:39:00.002-04:00

I got my ads a day early this week so I'll share the potential really good deals as I look through them.

Piggly Wiggly (yes, that is the name):

Boston Butt Pork Roast $0.89/lb.
Ribeye Steak $4.99/lb.
Country Style Pork Ribs B1G1 (around $1.49/lb)
Boneless Chicken Breasts $1.99/lb
3 lb. bag of apples $1.99 (Gala, Gold or Red Delicious)
Loose Russet Potatoes $0.59/lb.
10 lb. bag Russet Potatoes $3.99
Kraft BBQ sauce 5/$5 (or $1/ea)

Food Lion:

Split Chicken Breasts $0.97/lb.
New York Strip Steak $4.99/lb.
50% off Smithfield Center Cut Ham Slices ($2.50/lb. after % off)
Country Style Pork Ribs $1.49/lb.
Chips Ahoy B1G1
Ground Turkey 20 ounce package $1.99 ($1.59/lb ish)
1 lb. package strawberries 2/$5 ($2.50/ea)
Buy One pound of Sara Lee Turkey get 1/2 pound of Sara Lee cheese for free (turkey costs $6.99/lb. after free cheese they each cost $4.66/lb.)

I am sure that there will be some more deals once coupons are figured into the scenarios.

It has been more than a year

2009-09-13T22:48:00.001-04:00

I am a slacker. What can I say. I got busy and a day turned into a week then a month and now it has been more than a year. I have no doubt that I have disappeared from any google reader that I may have once appeared on, but I promise I'll be back and better than ever. I am going to have hubby teach me to put pictures in this thing. Also, this blog will reflect all of my interests, which now includes saving hundreds of dollars a month at the grocery store using coupons! I am going to post my shopping trips and tell you what coupons that I used to get those deals. Today I made two trips to Publix (one for me & one for mom) and I spent a total of $21.00 for over $110 worth of groceries. That is pretty significant savings.

I hope to be able to link to a few other sites where I get a lot of my information. I will be asking those blog authoresses in the next couple of days.

Here's to the future,
The Diva

Lunch Lady Bars, a recipe by Mrs.Lee, a nestie

2008-07-21T12:25:00.000-04:00

As soon as I saw the recipe and picture of these delightful little cookies in Mrs.Lee's blog, I saved the recipe because I knew that I would be trying them soon. I wanted to make some chocolate chip cookie bars because I figured that they would hold up better for travel and not crumble as easily as "regular" chocolate chip cookies. I immediately thought of this recipe, tucked away in my google documents just waiting for the day that I needed it.

This recipe came out great!!! I made them on Saturday night and let them cool completely before I cut them. I cut them in about 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 inch squares because these cookies are very thick. I don't have an exact amount of time that I baked them because I baked them for 15 minutes and then monitored them after that until they were done, but I would estimate that it took 24-26 minutes. I wanted to make sure that they were good and baked through in the middle and they turned out perfectly.

I would recommend trying this recipe soon. I know I'll be making them again once my husband gets back and can help me eat them!

Here is the link to Mrs.Lee's blog with pictures and recipe: http://sherrilynnlee.blogspot.com/2008/04/lunch-lady-bars.html

Dried Fruit Muffins... there's nothing dry about these!

2008-07-21T12:16:00.000-04:00

I made these yesterday morning to send with my husband on his trip, but I had to keep a few for myself. My husband is notoriously NOT a morning person, but he needed to leave early for his trip and I have found that if he smells something yummy in the oven it helps to wake him up. While the fruit in these muffins may be dry, the muffins themselves are moist and delicious. I will definitely be making these again, possibly even tonight to freeze since I accidentally bought a 16 oz. container of sour cream instead of 8 oz. For the fruit I used Cherry Berry Blend that I got at Publix and for the nuts I used Walnuts. I really would have liked to use Almonds since they are my favorite but I was all out.

This recipe says that it makes 12 muffins. It really probably technically makes 14 or 15 muffins because after filling my muffin tins I still had plenty of batter left over. So, I just filled each one a little more and they came out HUGE. They stayed together well though and I didn't have any problems with the centers being undercooked while the outsides are overcooked, like you can sometimes have with big muffins like this.

Dried Fruit Muffins
Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Cook for the Cure (the pink plaid binder cookbook)

Prep: 20 minutes Bake: 20 minutes Oven: 400 degrees Makes 12 muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or nutmeg (I used 1/4 teaspoon of each)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup dried cherries, apricots, raisins, and/or cranberries, or dried blueberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts, toasted
Sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups with paper bake cups; set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda; set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup sugar; beat until well combined. Beat in eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until just moistened (batter should be lumpy). Stir in dried fruit and nuts.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each almost full. If desired, sprinkle with additional sugar. bake about 20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cusp; serve warm.

Sending off the husband with some homemade goodies

2008-07-21T11:22:00.000-04:00

This week my husband is out of town for work. All week he will dine on steak, ribs and other very expensive, very bad for your things thanks to the project manager's company credit card. I, however, am convinced that he should always be sent off with some homemade goodie to remind him of home, and of me. Before my husband started traveling, and I would see Ina make Jeffrey treats when either of them was going to be gone I thought "get a grip Ina he's a big boy I'm pretty sure he can figure out how to feed himself," but now that my husband travels I understand wanting to send him off with something that reminds him of me.

This time he took:
Lunch Lady Bars (see post above)- basically really yummy chocolate chip cookie bars
Homemade popcorn (not the microwave stuff from a bag)
Dried Fruit Muffins (see post above)- he was leaving early in the morning so I packed some muffins that I made that morning for the road and for breakfast during the week
Cherry tomatoes- I cracked out and bought these for him forgetting that he was leaving so I decided to pack those for him too.

I packed all of this up in a large paper bag from the grocery store so it looks like a really big bagged lunch. Someone already made a comment about his "goodie" bag... they are just jealous.

I can't wait until he gets home. I don't like being separated from him and our girls always go crazy!

Bacon, Egg and Chese Strata a recipe from aggiesgirl, a nestie

2008-07-17T11:57:00.000-04:00

Are you all getting tired of the nestie recipes yet? :-) Like I said I have been doing a lot of cooking from my google documents, where I store all those great recipes that I find in the nestie blogs.

On Friday we went over to our friends' house for dinner and the wife made her famous challah, which happens to be one of my husband's favorite things ever. She always sends us home with 1/2 a loaf and my favorite thing to do with it is make french toast. If you have never had challah french toast, you do not know what you are missing. Well my husband had to work this weekend and I didn't want to make the french toast just for myself so I started thinking about what I could make with it that I could take to my husband's work to have lunch with him before my pizza making class at Williams Sonoma that afternoon.

I remembered saving some strata recipes to my google documents so I located those and found one for bacon, egg and cheese strata and thought that it would be perfect to make since I had all of the ingredients and my husband LOOOOOOVES bacon. I also really liked that I could prep it the night before and then bake it in the morning. This transported really well and was still warm after transporting it 30 minutes away (I covered it with aluminum foil).

I didn't have enough bread to make a 9X13 pan of this so I used my 8X8 and luckily my husband was there to help me figure out how much of everything to use because otherwise I would still be standing in my kitchen trying to figure it out. :-)

Here is the link to aggie's blog with the recipe: http://singforyoursupperblog.com/breakfast-brunch/for-mommy/ (it is the bottom recipe) Thanks for a great recipe!

Bourbon Chicken, a recipe from Krashed, a nestie

2008-07-17T11:31:00.000-04:00

When I was dating my husband and we would hang out at his parents' house his mom would often make big dinners that would take a while to cook and fill the entire house with yummy smells that would make my tummy rumble and just generally drive me crazy with wanting. I told her that these were "mean meals" because I always had to suffer a little before eating them, but that in the end the wait was well worth it.

Well for me, Bourbon Chicken is a "mean meal" it just smells so dadgum good while it is cooking that I had to resist the urge to eat it before it was done. I even told my husband at one point "I don't care how hot that pan is and if I burn off ever single taste bud I have in the process I am going to the kitchen right now to lick every bit of the sauce out of that pan because I can't wait anymore."

Well, I didn't go and burn my tongue on the sauce but I sure was tempted. Thankfully this was even better than I could have imagined. My husband and I both ate in complete silence because we were too busy savoring every bite to talk. When we were done my husband said "you're making this again, right?" He is such a picky eater than when I find an easy to make meal that he really likes I am happy to add it to the regular rotation (I usually make one rotation meal a week and the rest of the time we try something new).

In this case he asked me to make it his welcome home dinner for when he gets back from out of town. I will be happy to, but I wish I didn't have to wait that long to have it again!

Here's the link to Amber's (Krashed) blog with the recipe: http://amberskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/08/chinese-please.html

Falling off the bone chicken wings, a recipe from bunney, a nestie

2008-07-17T11:20:00.000-04:00

This was so good that my husband and I were both disappointed that I didn't make more. I got 20 whole wings on sale for under $6.00. That means that I got a 40 piece "order" of wings for $6.00. At a restaurant that would be at least $20.00! I didn't fix all of those at once, I divided them into three meals and froze two and just fixed six wings (12 pieces) for this recipe.

I like flats and my husband likes the drumettes so this really works out because we can both get only the things that we like. My husband is going out of town on Sunday and will be gone for a week and he asked that I fix this for him before he leaves even though we just had it last week. I have already starred this recipe in my google documents because I know I will be making it often.

Here is the link to the recipe on bunney's blog. Thanks bunney for a great recipe!

http://mrssacspurplekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/07/not-just-another-chicken-wings-recipe.html

Perfect Pan-Seared Steak, a recipe from mlr513, a nestie!

2008-07-17T11:11:00.001-04:00

Over the last couple of weeks I have tried several recipes from other nesties that we have really, really enjoyed so I decided to blog about them all separately otherwise this one post would seem to go on forever. First I am going to blog about my dinner last night. I was reading the blog http://readingritingandrecipes.blogspot.com/ and came across a recipe for Perfect Pan-Seared Steak. I had a sirloin steak in the freezer so I thought that would be perfect for dinner. It was really great. The flavor was excellent, there was a nice crispy crust on the outside, while the inside was moist and tender. I couldn't have asked for a better steak. Even my husband, who thinks that a steak isn't a steak unless it is grilled, said "this is better than grilled."

Thanks for a great recipe!

http://readingritingandrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/12/steak-in-skillet.html

Side note: I do not have any cast iron. I just used my big heavy stainless steel skillet that is oven proof to make this.

Product Review- Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauce in a Microwavable Pouch

2008-06-17T10:26:00.001-04:00

I have tried a great new product and I want to share a review with my fellow bloggers. I was at the grocery store looking at all the beautiful pasta when something caught my eye. Bertolli is making pasta sauce in a microwavable pouch that takes 90 seconds to heat. I picked up the Summer Crushed Tomato and Basil and it was really great. I bought Champignon and Portobello Pasta Sauce this past weekend and will make it sometime soon.

I like making my own sauce, but for nights when I'm really crunched for time or just plain exhausted, it is nice to have this as an option.

Barefoot Bloggers- Pasta, Pesto and Peas

2008-06-17T10:15:00.001-04:00

I am a very bad Barefoot Blogger. This was supposed to be posted by last Thursday. Time really got away from me though and I am late. This is a recipe that I knew I had to try when Michael wasn't going to be eating dinner with me because there is NO WAY he would eat something this green. He doesn't even eat vegetables so he would run at the sight of this.

Because of that, I significantly cut back on the recipe- by 1/2. Believe me... I still had plenty! I used packaged pesto (Classico) instead of making my own. I'll save the homemade pesto for when I have someone to enjoy it with me. (I think this would be good to take to a potluck)

Without further adeu, here's the recipe:

Pasta, Pesto, and Peas
Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa

3/4 pound fusilli pasta (I only used bow tie pasta)
3/4 pound bow tie pasta
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 cups pesto, packaged or see recipe below (I used Classico pesto)
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/4 cups good mayonnaise
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
1/3 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add the Parmesan, peas, pignolis, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Pesto:
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Notes: Air is the enemy of pesto. For freezing, pack it in containers with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.

To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner. Store them in a closed plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel. As long as the leaves are dry they will stay green for several days.

Yield: 4 cups

Dunbar Macaroni

2008-06-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

Last week I went up to my parent's house and had dinner with my mom (dad was out of town for work and my husband was working late that night). She made one of my favorite childhood meals, Dunbar Macaroni. This is a recipe that is very popular in the tiny town that my mom grew up in. When someone passes away there family is loaded down with casseroles, pies, cookies, cold salads and large quantities of sweet tea and lemonade. The thinking is that they will not feel like cooking and the neighbors, friends, church members and co-workers who provide the food are simply hoping that they will have some comfort in their time of loss. Well, the funeral home where my mom grew up is Dunbar Funeral home. This recipe is very popular on the comfort food circuit, hence its name, Dunbar Macaroni.

This is a long and somewhat complicated recipe, but it makes enough to feed a few small armies and it freezes and reheats very well. If you are planning to freeze this, get several of the small square aluminum foil pans. Do not put the cheese and bread crumb topping on. Instead put a sheet of saran wrap on the top of the meat & macaroni mixture and then put the cheese and bread crumb mixture in a baggie and place on top of the saran wrap and then wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil. When it is time to cook the dish, remove the saran wrap and bag of cheese & bread crumbs and re-place the aluminum foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Then top with the bread crumbs and cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

Here is the recipe, by my mother:

Dunbar Macaroni
1 lb. of lean ground beef or 2 cups of cut up leftover roast beef
8 oz. (2 cups) of dry small elbow macaroni
¾ stick of real butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
8 oz. tomato sauce
1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice, undrained
Salt and pepper to your taste (I give several firm shakes of each.)
3 cups (12 oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
2 slices of bread grated or torn into bits by hand (Day old or coarse
textured bread, white or even wheat, is best. The blender is also
good for making the bread crumbs. You want about 2 cups, not
compressed, but loosely packed. You may need more slices to make
the 2 cups.)

Get out your largest sauce pan/frying pan with a lid. I use a 12” straight-sided frying pan. Brown the ground beef and drain. You just want to get the pink out - you can put the cover on the pan and not have to watch it so closely. Then you can do other things, like make the breadcrumbs or get out the other ingredients while the meat is cooking.

Then wipe out the pan with a paper towel and bring a quantity of salted water in the same pan to a boil with the lid on to make it boil faster, and add the macaroni. Cook about 6 – 8 minutes, but don’t get it too soft. Drain.

Wipe out the pan and brown the butter till it is golden, but not dark brown. Be careful. If you burn it, start over. This is what gives the dish its distinctive flavor. Add the Worcestershire sauce to the butter in the frying pan and let it sizzle.

Then add the tomato products and heat. Now combine everything except the cheese and breadcrumbs in the frying pan and blend together.

Heavily Pam a 9 x 13” Pyrex dish. Quickly stir in 2 cups of the cheese into the macaroni and meat mixture. Arrange all that evenly in the dish. Mix the breadcrumbs and the last 1-cup (4 oz.) of cheese together and evenly top the other ingredients with them. Cook 15 – 20 minutes at 425 in the oven, or till the topping is nicely golden brown. Everything in the dish is already cooked and warm so you’re just browning the crumbs on top, not cooking the dish.

Comfort Food- Meatloaf

2008-06-17T09:54:00.001-04:00

Recently my husband's beloved childhood dog, Pandora, passed away after a long, happy life. I wanted to make some "comfort food" for him. He is not a big meatloaf fan, but when I saw this recipe I knew that he would like it and I was right. This is so, so good and so easy too! Try the recipe soon because it is a great quick and easy weeknight meal.

Meatloaf Patties, Smashed Potatoes, and Pan Gravy
From: Rachael Ray

1 1/3 pounds ground sirloin, 90 percent lean ground beef
1 slice white bread, spread with softened butter, then cut into small cubes
1/8 cup (a splash) milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons grill seasoning blend, or coarse salt and black pepper combined
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
1 medium onion, finely chopped, reserve 1/4 amount
2 pounds small red potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 scallions, chopped, whites and greens
1/2 cup milk

3-Condiment Pan Gravy:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped, reserved from meatloaf mixture
2 tablespoons (a handful) all-purpose flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 rounded teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon steak sauce

Place meat in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the center of the meat. Fill the well with the bread cubes and dampen them with a splash of milk. Pour 1 beaten egg over bread and add seasoning or salt and pepper, allspice, tomato paste and onion to the bowl.

Form mixture into 4 large oval patties 3/4-inch thick. Pan fry meatloaf patties in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat 7 minutes on each side under a loose tin foil tent. The tent will reflect heat and allow the steam to escape the pan.

Cover the quartered, red-skinned potatoes in water in a medium saucepan. Bring water to a boil and cook potatoes 10 minutes or until fork tender. Turn heat under pan off; drain potatoes and return to hot pan and warm stove top to dry potatoes out. Add butter, sour cream, scallions, and milk to potatoes and smash to your desired consistency. Season potatoes with salt, to taste.
Remove meat loaf patties to a platter and return pan to heat. Reduce heat to medium and add butter and onion to your skillet. Cook the onion 2 minutes and sprinkle pan with flour. Cook flour 1 minute and whisk in 1 cup beef stock. Bring broth to a bubble. If gravy is too thick, thin with additional stock. Stir in condiments and remove gravy from heat.

Slice meatloaf patties and drizzle with gravy. Pile smashed potatoes along side and make a well in the center for sour cream or gravy. Serve meatloaf and smashed potatoes with baby carrots, or with a tossed salad dressed with oil and vinegar.

Pizza Pizza!

2008-06-17T09:40:00.000-04:00

There is not much better in the world than biting into hot, fresh pizza that you have completely customized to your tastes. On Friday night my husband and I did just that. I have been wanting to make completely homemade pizza for a long time now but it kept getting pushed to the back burner. Part of the reason is I had NEVER cooked with yeast before. But now I have and it wasn't scary at all!

I have a pizza stone, but I used a cookie sheet to bake this on since I wanted something to help me form the pizza dough since it was a first try. This worked out well and resulted in a very thin crust pizza, which I love!

The very best part about making this pizza was that I could have exactly what I wanted on my half. I had: spinach (put this at the bottom right against the sauce so that it doesn't get burned), sun-dried tomatoes, green bell peppers, vidalia onion and sun-dried tomato & basil chicken sausage (from the IL's recent trip to Trader Joe's). The flavors complimented each other very well and there was definitely a party in my mouth!

Michael had: bacon, cheddar and chicken apple sausage (from Trader Joe's) He said that he loved the bacon and cheddar but wasn't crazy about the chicken sausage with it. He did eat it and he's not one to eat food that he doesn't like so it must have at least tasted decent.

I will have to share the sauce recipe that I use with you later since I don't have my cookbook with me. The recipe comes from a McCall's cookbook from the '60s and it is my absolute favorite cookbook ever!

I got the pizza crust recipe from a fellow nestie and blogger. You can view her blog here: http://lovestoeat.wordpress.com/

Crusty Pizza Dough
From: Kitchenaid Mixer Booklet

Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2- 3/12 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal

Directions

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add salt , oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Attach bow and Spiral dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and mix for one minute. Continue on speed 2 add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time and mix about 1. 5 minutes. or until dough starts to clean sides of bowl. Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down. Brush 14 inch pizza pan with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough across bottom of pan, forming a collar around edge to hold toppings. Add toppings as desired. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Makes 4 servings , quarter of pizza per serving.

For a crowd:Double the ingredients, and prepare in the 6 quart mixer bowl. Makes 8 servings.

I would encourage all of you to step out of your "cooking comfort zone" and try something new. Now that I have successfully used yeast there is a whole world of baking waiting for me.

Moist Bran Muffins

2008-06-17T09:30:00.000-04:00

My husband loves bran muffins but they are so hard to find (at least good ones) here in South Carolina. So when I saw these muffins in a blog that I read I knew that I had to try them. They were excellent and Michael really liked them!

Moist Bran Muffins
Where I got the recipe: http://http://bethanyjg.blogspot.com/2008/06/on-bran-muffins-and-intellectual-posers.html

Where she got the recipe: King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book

This batter must be baked next-day; it requires an overnight rest in the refrigerator. I'm pretty sure you'll regret it if you skip this step. You can also leave the batter in the fridge for a week, baking as you go. They freeze very well.

3/4 cup (6 oz.) boiling water
1 1/4 cups bran cereal, divided
3/4 cup raisins -I used Trader Joe's Orange Flavored Cranberries
3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil- I used 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup (6 oz.) buttermilk
1/2 cup (4 oz.) orange juice

Pour boiling water over 3/4 cup of the bran cereal in a small mixing bowl. Add the raisins, brown sugar and oil. While the bran mixture cools, blend together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Beat the egg with the buttermilk and orange juice in a large measuring cup. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup bran cereal, and then the bran-raisin mixture. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin. Fill each cup two-thirds full. Bake the muffin until a tester comes out clean, about 23 to 26 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling, or serve warm.

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cheesecake Squares

2008-06-04T11:38:00.001-04:00

Or How Jennifer got her Groove Back...

I have not been spending much time in my kitchen lately. First, it is SO hot that it is miserable to even boil water for pasta. When your kitchen is the size of a postage stamp, it heats up really quickly. And, second, I just plain haven't had time or the inclination.

But, I had been wanting to try this recipe for a very long time (probably 9 months or more) since someone on my message board had mentioned it. I had printed it and lost it so I was very happy to find it in a blog that I read regularly, unfortunately I apparently forgot to note which blog I found it in, so if it was yours please leave me a comment because I would love to give you credit!

These were very yummy! I made them low(er) fat by using the 1/3 reduced fat cheese and reduced fat sour cream. I don't think that you could tell much of a difference because they were still very creamy and very good.

I would highly recommend trying this recipe very soon!

Chocolate Cheesecake Squares
From Martha Stewart

Nonstick cooking spray
8 chocolate wafer cookies 1
bar (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1 large whole egg plus 1 large egg white
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Line with two crisscrossed pieces of parchment or wax paper, spraying between sheets. Spray lined pan; set aside. (I was SO not going to buy parchment paper just for this recipe-I normally use silicone baking sheets- so I used Reynold's non-stick aluminum foil. It worked fine for me.)

Process cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Gently press crumbs into bottom of prepared pan (do not rinse processor bowl).

Blend cream cheese and sour cream in food processor until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add cocoa, cornstarch, sugar, egg, and egg white; process until smooth. Pour into pan; sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake until just set, 35 to 40 minutes; cool completely in pan. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Invert onto a tray; peel off paper, and reinvert crust side down. Cut into 9 squares.

Edit: Yep, you are right! I found the recipe here: http://bethanyjg.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-still-love-chocolate.html

Breakfast for dinner, Bacon and Cheese Fluffy Frittata

2008-05-20T11:36:00.000-04:00

So my menu plan went completely out the window last week because Michael again had a crazy schedule. On Friday night I asked what he wanted for dinner and he said that breakfast sounded really good. Well, that sounded great to me since I had 34 eggs to use up since the store had them as buy one get one free this week.

We also had some beautiful thick cut bacon and cheddar and Ementaler cheese so off to the Internet we went. We didn't find any suitable recipes at foodnetwork.com, my usual standby so off to allrecipes.com we went. DH was very intrigued by the fluffy frittata recipe and wanted to try that one so I broiled some bacon, my preferred way of preparing bacon, and then prepared the recipe according to the directions.

My DH asked me to leave out the onion so I did (I would have preferred the recipe made with the onion and maybe some bell pepper too). I put a Tablespoon of the bacon drippings in the bottom of the pan and then proceeded as the recipe directed. This turned out well, but we didn't care very much for the texture of the eggs. I guess we just aren't fluffy egg people. I'll make this again but I'll either beat the egg whites less or just not separate them at all.

Fluffy-Bacon Cheese Frittata
Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
6 bacon strips, diced
1/3 cup chopped onion
5 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS
In a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp; remove to paper towels. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. In the drippings, saute onion until tender. Remove from the heat; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks, milk, flour and paprika until smooth. Add Swiss cheese. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Fold into cheese mixture.
Pour over onion in skillet; cover and cook on medium-low heat for 12-15 minutes or until almost set. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bacon. Cover and cook 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parsley.

Lemon Pepper Chicken with brown rice

2008-05-20T11:09:00.000-04:00

I was feeling very lazy on Saturday. I just didn't feel like cooking supper and I really didn't feel like going out, so I had to come up with something very quick and simple to have for dinner.

Quick and Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken

7 frozen chicken tenderloins, cut into bite sized chunks
1 green bell pepper
1 sweet onion (I used Vidalia but Peru sweet would also be good)
1/4 cup Ken's Lemon Pepper Marinade
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1. Cut the top off of the bell pepper and remove all seeds. Cut off bottom and cut around the stem thing into three chunks. Cut the "body" of the pepper into 5 thick strips and then cut those in half.

2. Cut the onion in half lengthwise. Cut off the top and the bottom "roots." Cut each half into three big wedges. Keep in wedge form (because they will be easier to dig out of marinade.

3. Rinse the ice coating from the chicken so that it can thaw in the marinade. Add the marinade to a large ziplock bag and add pepper, onion and chicken. Allow to marinate for one hour. Chicken should thaw during this time.

4. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and 1 Tablespoon of butter. Allow butter to melt and then add the pepper and onion (remove from marinade with tongs). Stir with wooden spoon to break up onion wedges. Cook until onion is translucent. Remove to plate.

5. Add remaining olive oil and butter to skillet. Allow butter to melt. Brown chicken on both sides. Remove from skillet.

6. Deglaze the pan with the chicken broth and add in the used marinade. Boil to kill off any bad stuff. Add the peppers, onions and chicken back to skillet and cook until chicken is cooked through and sauce is reduced.

Serve over brown rice made with half water and half chicken broth.

Steak quesidillas, the reason my husband loves me

2008-05-13T15:34:00.000-04:00

This is the most asked for meal in our home. My husband absolutely loves these and doesn't complain one bit about eating them for leftovers (and he HATES leftovers)

I start with my version of carne asada (see recipe below) and then slice it very very thinly against the grain into small strips. I place these on top of a burrito sized tortilla and top with loads of cheese. I usually use a combination of monterrey jack and cheddar cheeses. Then I put another tortilla on top and put it in a non stick skillet. I don't put butter or spray or anything else in the skillet while I am toasting the bread. Then I cut them into quarters and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Carne Asada

from: me!

London broil roast, trimmed of all fat and gristle
Juice and zest from two lemons
1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil
packet of taco seasoning

1. In a large ziplock bag mix together the lemon juice and zest, oil and taco seasoning. Add in the roast and marinate for one hour.

2. Heat a large grill pan over high heat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sear the meat on both sides (about 3 minutes) and then put in oven for 5 minutes.

3. Remove pan from oven. Set roast on a cutting board. Allow to "rest" for about 10 minutes.

4. Thinly slice the meat against the grain.

Mother's Day Brunch

2008-05-12T10:55:00.000-04:00

I thought it only fitting to blog about the brunch that I prepared for my mom yesterday for Mother's Day. You see, I get my love of all things kitchen gadget, place settings, recipe hunting, bargain finding, taste testing and cooking from my mother. She is the original downhome diva! I wanted a nice, quiet brunch for just the two of us so that we could spend some time together. I don't get to see her as often as I want to (which would probably be as often as we talk on the phone- multiple times a day!) so I wanted some special time with just the two of us.

My mom and I are both chocoholics and so I wanted to incorporate our shared love of all things chocolate into brunch.

On the menu:
Dutch pancake with Nutella, fresh strawberries and powdered sugar
bacon
Bellagio Hot Chocolate
a taste of Amano chocolate for dessert

To prepare the bacon, I used my absolute favorite method. I broiled it! I like to use thick sliced bacon, and yesterday I used some Tyson that I had picked up on sale. It was to die for good and had the perfect combination of crispy and chewy. What I do is place the bacon in a single layer on a broiler pan (that's the one with the slots) and put it under the broiler set on high for a few minutes (I would guess about 4) then I flip it over using tongs and broil it for about two more minutes. Remove from the broiler pan and drain on paper towels (although with this method there is really not much to drain as most of the fat cooks off while leaving the wonderful flavor).

For the dutch pancake, I used a recipe that I found from a nestie. I was bad and forgot to write down which blog I stole it from, so if it is yours please leave me a comment and I will give you credit. Sorry about that. I did make a couple of changes to the pancake since I would be serving it with chocolate and strawberries. I added a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla.

Here is the recipe that I used, with my changes:

Dutch Pancake

Ingredients
4 eggs
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tsp butter

Directions
1. In medium mixing bowl, place first 6 ingredients. Beat with an egg beater on medium for about 2 minutes until frothy and well mixed.
2. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425. Prepare 2 glass 8x8 dishes, or pie dishes, with 1.5 T butter each. Place in oven while it's preheating, so butter gets a nice brown color.
3. Remove pans and pour 1/2 the mixture into each pan. Return to oven and bake at 425 for 15 minutes.

Top with powdered sugar and cinnamon for a fantastic breakfast treat!

Each pancake makes 4 servings, in my opinion. I topped each serving with about 1/2 teaspoon of nutella and spread it very thin. I then piled on the sliced strawberries. I did not sweeten the strawberries since I topped everything with powdered sugar. My mom and I polished off a whole quart of strawberries together, but I suppose you can never really eat too much fruit.

Now, for a funny story. When I was looking for a small strainer to sift powdered sugar on top of the strawberries I found this small shaker that had what I THOUGHT was powdered sugar in it. Well, it was flour. oops. Luckily it did not ruin anything and I just added the powdered sugar on top of that.

I had a wonderful time and am so lucky to have a mom as wonderful as mine! Happy Mother's Day mom, I love you!

Amano chocolate, what they serve in heaven

2008-05-12T10:30:00.001-04:00

Image from www.blakemakes.com

Please visit http://www.amanochocolate.com/ to find out more about this wonderful chocolate and to purchase the finest quality chocolate bars that I have had the pleasure of eating.

So I recently became a sooper hero on Blake Makes, which means that I get the opportunity to try out all kinds of wonderful food products. Last week I arrived home from work to find three lovely chocolate bars waiting on my front steps. It was very hot that day (hello I live in SC from April to October it can be considered very hot!) and I was a little worried that the chocolate would be one melted mess. I was very happy to discover that while the chocolate had softened, it had maintained it's shape. Talk about impressed! If this chocolate can stand up to the SC heat then it can withstand anything.

I decided that rather than cooking with this chocolate, that I would enjoy it as I would any fine quality chocolate, by eating it as an after dinner treat with coffee. The first night I tried a couple of squares of each and put them away to finish firming back up (they were soft from sitting on my porch all day).

The next day I had a few more bites of each and also asked my husband to try the bars. Now, my husband is not a big dark chocolate fan (I know, I know, how is that even possible?!?) but he liked the Madagascar. I would say that is the creamiest and most mild, so that would be good for someone like him who tends to prefer milk chocolate. My favorite, by the way, is the Ocumare. I ate that whole one by myself and didn't let anyone else try it. Because I am selfish and it was my favorite, that's why!

Then, yesterday, was Mother's Day so I knew that I would be around a lot of dark chocolate lovers so I threw what was left of the Madagascar and the Cuyagua into my purse to tote around and have others try.

First up was my mom. She really liked both types but the Cuyagua was her favorite. I would tend to agree with her, as it was my second favorite, and because I am selfish, she didn't get a chance to try the Ocumare. Sorry about that mom. :)

Next up was my mother-in-law. She is a big fan of the dark chocolate. She liked them both, but again the Cuyagua was her favorite. I believe that she was the one who mentioned that a little of this chocolate goes a long way because it is so pure and rich. I would tend to agree with her. I am a big time chocolate lover and it took me several sittings over several days to pig out on the Ocumare. :)

My father-in-law sampled the chocolate next. He also enjoys dark chocolate. He also preferred the Cuyagua.

Then my brother-in-law's girlfriend sampled both chocolates. She agreed with my husband that the Madagascar was her favorite.

All of these chocolates were beyond wonderful. I was a confirmed Godiva fan before sampling these, but I am now a convert. I can't wait to have more of these, and I think both of our moms would enjoy a bar as a present.

Thank you Blake Makes and Amano for the chance to sample these wonderful chocolates and for my first opportunity to review something for Blake Makes!

Jennifer

Italian Sausage and Potatoes

2008-05-09T08:57:00.001-04:00

I saw this recipe in Quick and Simple magazine a few months ago. I used kielbasa instead of Italian sausage since that is what I had. I added the kielbasa in with 15 minutes to go, at the same time that I stirred the potatoes, peppers and onions, and this was the perfect amount of time for the sausage to cook. This is not healthy at all... but it is yummy and quick and very, very easy so it was great for a week night meal.

Italian Sausage And Potatoes.

1 Pound Sweet And/Or Hot Italian Sausage( Or Use Turkey Sausage.) Cut Crosswise Into Thirds.
1 Pound Small Red Or Yellow Potatoes, Scrubbed And Halved.
1 Large Onion, Cut Into 12 Wedges.
2 Red And/Or Yellow Bell Peppers,Cut Into Thick Strips.
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil.
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper.

Preheat Oven To 450 Degrees . In A 15&1/2 X 10&1/2 Jelly-Roll Pan, Toss Together Sausage,Potatoes,Onion, Bell Peppers, Olive Oil,Salt And Pepper.

Roast 30 To 35 Minutes, Or Until Potatoes Are Fork-Tender And Sausage Is Lightly Browned, Stirring Once Halfway Through Roasting.

EDIT 5/21/08- I made this again last night because we needed a quick and easy meal. DH got off of work very late. This takes only one cutting board, one knife and one cookie sheet to make so it doesn't make a huge mess of the kitchen, which is wonderful when you are as tired as we were. I had Italian Sausage this time so I used that. I also sprinkled about a teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning over the potatoes. I preferred this recipe made with the Italian Sausage, but my DH preferred the kielbasa. I guess we'll just alternate, or use whatever is on sale. :-)

My first ever chicken salad

2008-05-06T13:26:00.000-04:00

I know that this may seem weird but sometimes I find that while I have "mastered" cooking techniques that others may be wary of, I have simply not tried many of the basics. Chicken salad was one of those basic things that I had not tried to make before today. I roasted a 6 pound chicken on Sunday (hello it was 49 CENTS a pound!) to use as a base for meals throughout the week.

Yesterday I made chicken, spinach, sun-dried tomato and mozzarella paninis for dinner and found that I still have A LOT of chicken to use up. I had bought some pitas to use for pita pizzas so I decided that I light, refreshing chicken salad would be great to go with them. Here is what I came up with:

Fruity Chicken Salad
By: me!

1 roasted (or rotisserie) chicken breast, cut into large cubes (mine was huge but you may need to add more if your chicken is not as well endowed as mine was)
1/2 stalk of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons almonds, chopped
1/4 cup of crasins or other dried fruit
8 large grapes, cut into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons of light mayo
1 tablespoon Champagne Vinegar (or other vinegar that you may have on hand)
1 teaspoon Pampered Chef Citris & Basil Rub
salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything making sure that the seasonings are well distributed throughout. Enjoy!

Butter Crunch Lemon-Cheese Bars

2008-05-06T09:01:00.000-04:00

This is a Cooking Light recipe, although I think I first encountered it in adamswife's blog. The first time I made them, last summer, I forgot to put the eggs in the filling. Well needless to say that didn't exactly work so I decided to give them another try last night. They are so good, so tart and are the perfect treat on these hot Spring days. Give them a try soon, you won't regret it!

Butter Crunch Lemon-Cheese Bars

Ingredients

Crust:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
1 cup all-purpose flour
Cooking spray

Filling:
1 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 large egg white

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare crust, place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until well-blended. Press crust into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

To prepare filling, place cottage cheese in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and remaining ingredients, and process until well-blended. Pour filling over crust. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until set (the edges will get lightly browned), and cool. Cover and chill for 8 hours.

Yield
8 servings (serving size: 1 bar)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 281(29% from fat); FAT 9g (sat 5.2g,mono 2.6g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 6.7g; CHOLESTEROL 49mg; CALCIUM 40mg; SODIUM 298mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 44.5g
Greg Patent , Cooking Light, JANUARY 2001

Tracy, to make your life easier

2008-04-30T11:23:00.000-04:00

Here is the recipe that you are looking for:

Basic white sauce turned cheese sauce:
1/2 stick of butter (4 tablespoons)
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/8 teaspoon (or a big pinch) pepper
1 1/2 cups whole milk (do not cheat and used reduced fat or skim or your sauce will taste like a combination of dog poo and wallpaper paste-you have been warned)
1/2 cup heavy cream (we all have to cheat now and again)
one golf ball size portion of Parmesan cheese, finely grated (no cheating and using the stuff in the little green can. Call me if you need a reasonably priced recommendation)

1. Combine flour, salt & pepper in a bowl and set aside.

2. Melt butter over medium heat, stirring constantly. When butter is melted remove pan from heat.

3. Gradually add flour mixture and stir until smooth.

4. Combine the whole milk and heavy cream in a liquid measuring cup with a spout. Slowly whisk into the butter and flour mixture.

5. Place back onto burner over medium heat and whisk constantly until boiling. Boil for two minutes.

6. Remove from heat. Grate in Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

7. Pat yourself on the back, you have just made a white sauce and then a cheese sauce. You also made a roux (combining the butter and flour and cooking the flour- although we used the heat of the pan to cook it), which is the basis for soups and other yummy goodness.

Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-04-28T12:09:00.001-04:00

This has become my "go to" cookie recipe. It is frequently requested by family and friends (mostly my in-laws who are nuts about the recipe). What I love most about chocolate chip cookies is that they are almost like a medicine for a bad day. To me, making them is soothing and to others, at least I think, eating them is soothing. I recently made these for a friend when she was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (bonus points if you can tell me what book that is from) and realized that they had not made an appearance on my blog. They certainly deserve to be here among my other recipes so, without further ado, here they are:

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
(Source: Allrecipes)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Creamy Parmesan Orzo, an oldie but goodie

2008-04-28T12:02:00.001-04:00

This recipe is from cooking light, but you would never know by the taste. It is one of my favorite recipes, but unfortunately I had lost it. Thanks to the nesties I have found it again and I will be adding it back to my menus. Here it is, I hope by blogging it that I will never lose it again and have to go without the creamy goodness: Creamy Parmesan Orzo
Cooking Light

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup orzo
1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons pine nuts, toasted

Preparation
Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add orzo, and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is absorbed and orzo is done (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in cheese, basil, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with the pine nuts. Serve immediately.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)

Dirty Risotto and why I love Giada

2008-04-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

Giada Di Laurentis is single handily responsible for my new love of cooking Italian food. You see, I have always loved to eat all types of food but growing up I was not exposed to many different types of cuisine from around the world. In other words, I was intimidated. But, Giada is so darn lovable that she makes even the most difficult tasks (hello homemade gnocchi) seem like the work of children.

Risotto is a pain in the hiney to make. It just is. You have to stand there and stir it the entire time that it cooks. But, it is creamy and yummy and if you are prepared for the work going into it making it can be very rewarding (and I'm not just taking about the party in your mouth when the first grain hits your tongue.)

This recipe could not possibly be any better. I like to add my own touch to recipes so I added in some garlic but other than that I can't possibly think of anything that could be done to this recipe to make it any better. It is that good.

Here is the recipe, my notes and changes are in italic:

Dirty Risotto
(Source: Food Network)
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 T. butter
2 oz. pancetta, chopped (you can substitute bacon but it might not be as good)
6 oz. Italian sausage, casing removed
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 oz. button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 c. Arborio rice
3/4 c. dry white wine
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer. Cover the broth and keep warm over low heat.

2. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sausage and saute until golden brown about 5 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper and mushrooms and saute until tender, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, about 8 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute, being careful not to burn. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering brother and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bit and the mixture is creamy, about 25-30 minutes total.

4. Remove from heat. Stir in 3/4 of the Parmesan. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the parsley and remaining Parmesan and serve immediately.

BakingBlonde's Blondies

2008-04-28T11:45:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went to a baby shower and I wanted to contribute to the menu. I took a spinach & cheese quiche as well as the spinach and sun dried tomato quiche I blogged earlier this month. I wanted to provide something sweet and wasn't in the mood for my stand-by recipe of chocolate chip cookies so I thought that blondies would perfectly fit the bill.

I got this recipe from a nestie. Here is the link to her blog: http://bakingblonde.wordpress.com/

I wanted to add a mix-in to the blondies and thought that I would add in some chocolate chips. I had bought a very small bag of very good chocolate chips that was not nearly enough to make cookies but I thought it would be perfect for these. Unfortunately, the chocolate chips completely melted and kept the blondies from setting properly. So I dumped those on a plate and started over. The next time I used mini M&Ms as the mix-in because I thought the shell would keep them from melting, which it did. This worked perfectly and they were a big hit. I hope you'll try them! Here's the recipe:

Basic Blondies
(Source: Bakingblonde)
8 T. butter, melted
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla or 1/2 tsp. almond extract
pinch salt
1 c. flour

Butter an 8x8" pan.

Mix melted butter with brown sugar-beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (some ideas below).

Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle.

Cool on rack before cutting.

Add in ideas:1/2 to 1 c. chocolate chips or butterscotch chips 1/2 tsp mint extract in addition to, or in the place of vanilla extract 1/2 c. chopped nuts, chopped up candy bars

Crockpot "baked" chicken and baked garlic rice pilaf

2008-04-24T11:52:00.000-04:00

Last night I tried two recipes from nesties. Both turned out really well. The first I made was the crock pot "baked" chicken by Carrie (http://adamswife.blogspot.com/). I made a few changes though. I rubbed the outside of the chicken with olive oil and seasoned with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and then quartered 2 lemons and stuffed that in the cavity along with two smashed cloves of garlic. I cooked without liquids on low all day while I was at work. You don't need to add liquid because SO much liquid cooks out of the chicken, plus I figured that I had the lemons inside to keep it moist anyways. The chicken just completely falls apart and is so tender. You don't even need a knife to cut into serving size or to eat it!

The sides that I made to go with it were baked garlic rice pilaf and sauteed green beans (I just add a Tablespoon or so of olive oil to a skilled and add in the snapped green beans. I keep tossing them to make sure they cook evenly. When they are done I add some balsamic vinegar to the pan and let it reduce for a few moments.)

I got the recipe for the garlic rice pilaf from a nestie. I am not sure which blog I got it from so I'll post the links to both. http://jessicasfoodspot.blogspot.com/ and http://amberskitchen.blogspot.com/.
It was really so very good and I highly recommend that you try it. I will definitely be making it again!

Baked Garlic Rice Pilaf
2 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon
black pepper
I also used some fresh squeezed lemon, I added it about 15 minutes before it was finished (I did this also)

Preheat oven to 375*. Heat butter in a skillet; add garlic and rice and cook until both are golden brown. Add 1 cup of broth and the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and pour into a covered casserole; bake for 25 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups broth; cook for another 45 minutes. This can be doubled without increasing the cooking time.

Shephard's pie (kinda)

2008-04-18T10:59:00.000-04:00

When Michael and I first got married (almost three years ago!) I made this all the time because he really likes it and it is fairly quick and easy. It is even easier if you are using leftovers.

Shephard's Pie
My no recipe recipe

Leftover ground beef, browned & drained
garlic salt
pepper
onion powder
1 small bag frozen corn (or use canned but I just like frozen better)
leftover mashed potatoes
butter
cheese (I like cheddar monterrey jack)

Step 1:
Spray an oven safe baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Step 2:
Place ground beef in the bottom of the cooking dish. Sprinkle garlic salt, pepper and onion powder to taste on top.

Step 3:
Top ground beef with the corn.

Step 4:
Top corn with mashed potatoes. Place small pats of butter on top of potatoes and then cover with cheese.

Step 5:
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Quiche squared

2008-04-14T10:04:00.000-04:00

Last night we went over to the *new* home of some of our friends for movie night! I wanted to contribute to the wonderful feast that we always have so I offered to bring quiche.

I have always loved quiche but really fell in love with it in Paris. Now, I am not even going to pretend for a moment that I make authentic French quiche, but it is good and it is easy and it satisfies the craving so I think it's good enough! I made a bacon, cheddar and Monterrey Jack quiche to satisfy my husband's craving for all things bacon and then I made a spinach, sun-dried tomato, Parmesan and mozzarella quiche because well anything is better with sun-dried tomatoes and it just sounded darn good to me as I was thinking of what to make.

Again I had the problem with measuring ingredients, which I DON'T do because I apparently have some sort of aversion to measuring utensils (which explains why I don't terribly enjoy baking) so here is a rough guideline of what I did:

Bacon Quiche

1 package thick sliced bacon

6 eggs

2-ish Tablespoons heavy whipping cream (don't try to use skim milk I did that once to a terrible result really there is nothing in this world like heavy cream)

1 package shredded cheddar Monterrey Jack blend cheese

white pepper (or use what you like I think white pepper is prettier

1 store bought deep dish pie crust (or make your own but you'll have to find your own recipe since I don't do baking I can't recommend a recipe) *also allow this to thaw while you are preparing other ingredients. If it is not thawed all the way it is ok but take it out before you start the other prep work*

1. Broil the bacon. That's right I said broil it. I recently discovered this technique for cooking bacon and I am now a convert. You turn your broiler on high, lay out the bacon on your broiling pan and then just listen (you should hear it sizzling) and use your sniffer to monitor the bacon. When you really start smelling the bacon, check it and it will probably be ready to turn. Then cook on the other side. You want the bacon to be at least done and leaning towards crispy. No soggy bacon for quiches. Once it has finished cooking, remove to paper towels and blot out the grease. Chop into 1/4 inch thick chunks.

2. Use a hand mixer with the whisk attachment to beat 6 eggs and 2-ish Tablespoons heavy cream until foamy.

3. Add bacon, 1/2 of the cheese and white pepper to the eggs.

4. Pour into the pie crust. Top with remaining cheese.

5. Cook at 375 for 35 minutes and then let cool for 10 minutes before you cut into it. Don't skip the cooling process or it won't set properly. Believe me I tried. :)

Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomato, Parmesan and Mozzarella Quiche

1/2 box frozen spinach, thawed and water completely pressed out

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped (press out the oil first)

6 eggs

2-ish Tablespoons heavy cream

white pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

1/2 bag Mozzarella cheese

1/2 bag *good* Parmesan cheese (don't use crap or the quiche will taste like crap :)

1 frozen deep dish pie crust *again thaw while you prep the other ingredients*

1. Beat the eggs with the heavy cream using a hand mixer until foamy.

2. Add in spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, white pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and all of the Mozzarella.

3. Pour into pie crust and top with the Parmesan cheese

4. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

I hope you enjoy these "recipes" and again sorry about the whole measuring thing... One day I will learn not to just grab bottles and start throwing ingredients together.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes McAlister's Deli Style

2008-02-11T15:55:00.000-05:00

4 Small Baking Potatoes (the kind that come in the 5 or 10 pound bag) You want two sets of matching potatoes of similar size and shape
1 large chicken breast, seasoned and grilled
2 slices of Motzorella Cheese
1/2 cup broccoli
Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Scrub potatoes and use a fork to poke holes in them so that they don't explode in the oven.

3. Bake for one hour.

4. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes.

5. Meanwhile, dice the chicken breast. Take raw broccoli and put in a microwave safe bowl and add 1 tablespoon of water. Microwave for 45 seconds, or until just not raw.

6. Slice one end off of each potato and cut down center length-wise. Match up potato ends so that it looks like you have one giant potato. Stuff with broccoli and chicken. Cover with a slice of Motzorella cheese and some freshly grated Parmesan. Place in oven-safe cooking dish.

7. Bake until cheese is melted, about 7-10 minutes.

8. Enjoy!

Peach turnovers

2008-02-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

Last night I made peach turnovers as a treat for my husband. It was my first time trying and overall they came out well. I will share with you what went right, and what went wrong. Probably what went wrong most is that I made up my own recipe. lol Here it is:

Ingredients:
1 package of puff pastry (2 sheets)
1 large can of peach pie filling
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons raw sugar
butter for greasing

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Unwrap puff pastry and use a rolling pin to lightly roll it out in a square shape (most puff pastry comes in a rectangle shape)

3. Using a pizza cutter, cut each sheet of puff pastry into 4 equal sized squares so that you have a total of 8 squares of puff pastry.

4. Grease a large cookie sheet with butter (because I live in the South and butter makes everything better!)

5. One at a time take a square of puff pastry, place it on the greased cookie sheet, and put 2 tablespoons of peach pie filling in the center making sure that you are getting mostly peaches and very little syrup (I realized this when I was almost done which is why I had some turnovers that were soggy from too much syrup).

6. Fold over 1/2 of the puff pastry square to make a triangle shape. Using a fork pinch the edges to seal. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Also using the fork, poke a few holes in the top of the turnover to allow steam to escape.

7. Repeat steps 5&6 until all turnovers are formed.

8. Bake for 15 minutes. Check and make sure that pastry is puffed and golden brown. If not bake for a few more minutes until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

9. Remove pan from oven. Allow pastries to cool on pan for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

10. Say mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm as you bite into a yummy turnover and smile because YOU made them!

Hope you enjoy!

Simple grilled chicken... inside

2008-02-07T10:21:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I want a quick and easy dinner. Last night was one of those nights. Something that I often make at those times is grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I use several different seasonings, depending on what we are in the mood for. Last night I used sea salt, multi-colored peppercorns (my favorite!) and Citris Basil rub that I got from Pampered Chef. Let me tell you, that stuff is worth its weight in gold! It is so good to use on so many things. I have used it on green beans, chicken, pasta... the list goes on and on.

So I have a trick for getting the juiciest chicken boobies that you ever did eat. Step 1 is preheating the oven to 450 degrees. I saw a show on the Food Network once (I don't remember which show) that said when you are cooking chicken without the skin the trick is to cook it quickly before it has a chance to dry out. I then take an oven safe grill pan (I forget which one I have but it's a fancy smanchy one that I got at Bed, Bath and Beyond so if you don't have one check there) and preheat it over medium high heat. Once the pan is screaming hot I sear the chicken on both sides until it is good and golden and then throw it in the oven to finish it. I would say it takes about 7 minutes in the oven... depending on how big the boobies are.

A trick to checking your chicken to see if it is done without cutting it or sticking a meat thermometer in (which would let the juices escape) is to poke it with your finger. If the meat is firm to the touch and bounces back right away then it is done. You will have to experiment several times to get it just right but eventually you will be able to check for the doneness just by poking it. I think this only works on chicken breasts. At least I have only used this trick for chicken breasts.

So that is my rather boring post for the day on how to get the juiciest chicken breasts and how to poke them to tell if they are done.

We are having leftovers tonight so no great updates tomorrow either. Hopefully next week I will be fully back into the swing of things. Believe it or not I am still getting over the cooties that my husband so sweetly shared with me. My energy level is about a one right now.

Rigatoni with Steak Sauce

2008-02-05T12:41:00.000-05:00

I have been making very boring stuff lately, if I have been cooking at all and nothing has been "blog worthy" so I am posting a recipe that I tried over the summer and I just LOVED. Now Michael didn't care for this, even though I specifically made it for him since it has steak in it, because he just doesn't like pasta. It is very good though and a nice balanced meal with vegetables, starch and meat all in one. It's pretty easy too!

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings (note from the Diva: I think you would have to be feeding lumberjacks to only get 4 servings out of this. I remember getting AT LEAST 6)

Rigatoni with Steak Sauce

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 (12-ounce) rib-eye steaks
Salt and pepper
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup dry red wine (I used Merlot)
1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 cup beef broth
16 ounces dried rigatoni pasta
3 ounces Parmesan, shaved

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large frying pan over high heat. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Cook the steaks until they are brown but still rare in the center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the steaks to a plate and set aside to cool completely.

Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan. Saute the onions and carrots until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes, with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Add the garlic and oregano, and saute for 1 minute. Add the wine and simmer for 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce and broth. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat to allow the flavors to blend, about 10 minutes. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, trim off any fat from the steaks, then cut the steaks into bite-size pieces and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the rigatoni and boil until it is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Drain the rigatoni.
Toss the rigatoni and reserved steak pieces and any accumulated juices from the steaks with the sauce to coat. Transfer the pasta to bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese shavings and serve.

Homemade Applesauce

2008-01-28T13:53:00.000-05:00

This past fall I got the idea to make homemade applesauce for my husband because he loves applesauce. I had never made it before, nor had it in recent memory. I really don't know how they sell the bottled stuff after eating this. First of all my husband floated through the house by his nose when he came home from work and immediately appeared in the kitchen to find out what I was making. Second, this is exceedingly easy and pretty quick too. Third, it just tastes darn good, and I don't even like apples! I am putting this recipe in my blog today because I am going to make it tomorrow when I make porkchops. I have been looking forward to having porkchops all week but since I have been fighting the cooties (I am a drama queen I am going to milk these cooties for all they are worth!) I haven't felt like eating or cooking. I am going to serve the porkchops with the applesauce and the brown rice pilaf that I recently blogged. I think all the flavors will combine really well. Anyways, on to the recipe. I found it at www.foodnetwork.com as I do many of my recipes.

Applesauce

Recipe courtesy Cathy Lowe

2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 McIntosh apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until apples become very tender, about 30 minutes. Applesauce may be left lumpy or mashed with a fork to become smoother

A Love Letter to my Kitchen

2008-01-28T12:57:00.000-05:00

Dearest Beautiful, Yet Tiny Kitchen,

How I have missed you these past five days that I have been fighting the cooties. I have missed your shiny stainless pots and your lovely speckled fake granite counter tops that I lovingly picked for you. I miss all my new Christmas presents stored away in your cabinets and drawers and, well, who am I kidding... sitting on those gorgeous counters. I long for the beautiful ebony refrigerator that dispenses the water I love so much and holds my favorite ice cream. Our time apart shall go on no longer. I will see you tonight. How does 6:00 work for you?

Love,
The Diva

p.s. On the menu tonight is Philly Cheesesteaks with green beans and corn on the cob. Can't wait! Or maybe meatball subs. Something to use subrolls before they go bad. Hmmmm.....

Pasta with vodka sauce and sausage

2008-01-25T08:44:00.000-05:00

I am still fighting the cooties. :( I thought that I felt better yesterday so I decided to fix dinner. I looked around for a quick dish that would seem hearty and make me feel better. This recipe has roughly a 30 minute prep time. About half way through I regretted the decision to cook. I just started feeling awful! This was good however I wish I would have waited until I was feeling better because I think I would have enjoyed it more. I doubled the recipe because it said it only made one serving. I am posting the recipe the way it was written.

Anyways, here is the recipe from Emeril via www.foodnetwork.com:

Pasta with Vodka Sauce and Sausage

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2005

1/4 pound spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pound Italian sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled or chopped
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons vodka
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 to 2 tablespoons chiffonade of fresh basil leaves
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for garnish S
prig fresh basil, for garnish

Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until just al dente, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain in a colander and return to the saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until browned and all pink has disappeared, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onions, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until thick, about 2 minutes. Add the vodka and cook until the sauce reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat.

Toss the sauce with the pasta to coat evenly and transfer to a pasta bowl for serving. Top with cheese and sprig of basil and serve immediately.

A break from cooking to fight the cooties

2008-01-24T10:19:00.000-05:00

Boys really do have cooties, at least my husband does. Michael started coming down with a cold or something the other night and then the very next day I was showing the same symptoms. I told him that while I appreciated him sharing with me, that he could really keep all the germs. So I didn't cook yesterday, instead I went straight home and crawled into bed. When Michael got home from work I begged him to make me some soup (and by make I mean open can, pour in bowl and microwave) and he did. I had some kind of spicy Italian. I've had it before and it is really good. There is just something about hot soup that makes you instantly feel better. I was asleep by 8:30... NyQuil can do that to you!

Hopefully I will feel like cooking tonight. I want to make bow-tie pasta with vodka sauce. We'll see though.

Pot Roast so Good it will make you want to sing or dance or both

2008-01-21T10:20:00.000-05:00

Our first married Christmas my In-Laws gave Michael a cookbook for Christmas. Mother-in-law really enjoys her version of the same cookbook and it is very handy to have as it explains how to make just about anything you could ever want. Shortly after he received it one of the local stores had roasts on sale so I set off and bought one so that I could make a roast for my new husband, knowing that his new cookbook would surely have a recipe.

It did and I tried it, although I never really followed their list of ingredients, instead choosing to use a seasoning packet made to use for pot roast in a slow cooker. I followed the cooking directions though and always came out with a great roast.

Saturday we were having some really nasty weather. As southerners we aren't used to being cold and don't care for cold weather very much. So when it is cold we require warm, comforting food and if the stove can be on for a good long while to help warm up the house, all the better! I didn't have any of my slow cooker seasoning mix and I was SO not about to go out in nasty weather to retrieve some or risk my darling husband's well being for some stupid spices so I decided that I would follow the recipe exactly, or as exactly as humanly possible for me. :)

When I read the recipe and then looked at the roast package I had an "uh oh" moment. I must say that I consider myself very lucky because my "uh oh" moments are few and far between, but this time I was left scratching my head. My recipe called for a chuck roast between 2 1/2-3 pounds. The roast I had was a Sirloin Tip roast that was a little over 5 pounds. I decided that I would double the other ingredients and slightly increase the cooking time. The recipe calls to cook the roast for an hour, then add the vegetables and then cook for 45 more minutes. I cooked the roast for 1 hour, 15 minutes, then added the vegetables and then cooked for 45 more minutes.

Other changes that I made to the recipe are: I seasoned the roast liberally with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper (I use the multi-colored peppercorns because, really, they are cuter and I think that makes me think that they taste better). Then I seared it on all sides (including the sides by using my tongs to hold the roast on its side). I really felt that the recipe needed some garlic and because if some garlic is good, more must be better, I felt like it could use 3 cloves of garlic. I grated the garlic into the broth that I cooked the roast in. I also believe that things that are cooked slowly (like spaghetti and pot roast) need bay leaves. So I threw two in for good measure. Then to finish it off I grated fresh pepper over everything until I thought my arm would fall off because in my rarely humble opinion, there is no such thing as too much pepper. Other than those things I followed the recipe exactly.

Here it is:

Source: Better Homes & Gardens, the big recipe binder cookbook

Beef Pot Roast

Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 1 3/4 hours

Ingredients:

1 2-1/2- to 3-pound boneless beef chuck pot roast
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon granules
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound tiny new potatoes or 4 medium potatoes or sweet potatoes
1 pound carrots or 6 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 small onions, cut into wedges
2 stalks celery, bias-sliced into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Black pepper (optional)

Directions
1. Trim fat from meat. In a 4- to 6-quart Dutch oven brown roast on all sides in hot oil. Drain off fat. Combine the 3/4 cup water, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon granules, basil, and salt. Pour over roast. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, if using new potatoes, peel a strip of skin from the center of each. If using medium potatoes or sweet potatoes, peel and quarter. Add potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery to meat. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 45 to 60 minutes more or until tender, adding water if necessary. Transfer meat and vegetables to a platter, reserving juices in Dutch oven. Keep warm.

3. For gravy, measure juices; skim fat. If necessary, add enough water to juices to equal 1-1/2 cups. Return to Dutch oven. In a small bowl stir the 1/2 cup cold water into the flour. Stir into juices in pan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. If desired, season with pepper. Serve gravy with meat and vegetables.

4. Makes 8 to 10 servings

5. Oven directions: Trim fat from meat. Brown roast as directed above. Combine the 3/4 cup water, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon granules, basil, and salt. Pour over meat. Bake, covered, in a 325 degree F oven for 1 hour. Prepare potatoes as directed. Add vegetables to meat. Cover and bake for 45 to 60 minutes more or until tender. Prepare gravy in a saucepan as directed above.

6. Slow cooker directions: Trim fat from meat. Place vegetables in a 4-1/2- or 5-quart slow cooker. Cut roast to fit, if necessary; place on top of vegetables. Combine the 3/4 cup water, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon granules, basil, and salt. Add to cooker. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 9 to 11 hours or on high-heat setting for 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours. Prepare gravy in a medium saucepan on the range top as in step 3 above. Serve gravy with meat and vegetables.

My dinner for tonight

2008-01-14T15:19:00.001-05:00

EDIT: Not only was this meal not good, it was inedible. I warned Michael before dinner that we were trying a new recipe that I had not written tonight so that he could be prepared if it was really bad. It was. Michael couldn't even eat his. I was STARVING so I choked down a few bites of mine. Not only was the flavor atrocious, but it was over-cooked and dry. I followed the recipe exactly, so I'm not to blame for this one. I made cheddar mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli and cauliflower with cheddar cheese on top to serve with this. The chicken was so bad that we lost our appetites and neither of us ate much of anything. Even Isabelle (our Jack Russell Terrier) wasn't even thrilled with the chicken and only reluctantly ate it.

We ended up eating cheesecake for dinner a couple of hours later once we re-gained our appetites.

A while back I bought about one million bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts on sale. I individually bagged them and threw them in the freezer thinking that one day I would find a way to use them. I decided last night that I wanted to use them for dinner tonight and set out to find a recipe. I had NO clue what I wanted to make but I knew I wanted it to be relatively healthy as we had been eating more of Michael's style food, which is kinda junky and high fat & calorie.

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com. It had received really good ratings so I thought I would give it a try. I haven't made it yet, but I will let y'all know how it turns out. I'm not sure what I am going to serve with it yet, but I am wanting some broccoli and I have several potatoes that need to be used so I might make rosemary roasted potatoes and broccoli with cheese to serve with this.

Oven Fried Chicken IV
INGREDIENTS
· 2 cups low fat sour cream
· 4 cloves garlic, minced
· 6 chicken drumsticks
· 6 bone-in chicken breast halves, with skin
· 4 cups crushed cornflakes cereal
· 4 tablespoons crushed dried rosemary
· 3 teaspoons dried sage
· 3 tablespoons garlic powder
· salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place a cooling rack on top of a large cookie sheet. Spray the rack with vegetable cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together sour cream and minced garlic. In another bowl, stir together the cornflake crumbs, rosemary, sage, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Coat the chicken with the sour cream mixture, then roll in the cornflake mixture. Arrange chicken pieces on top of the cooling rack.
3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, until meat is no longer pink, and juices run clear.

Cheese Fries

2008-01-14T14:34:00.000-05:00

Friday night Michael and I had Philly Cheese steak sandwiches and cheese fries. I used Steak-ums for the cheese steaks and just cooked the meat with some Worsheshire (sp?) Sauce to add some flavor. I served on toasted sub rolls with peppers & onions for me and Provolone cheese for both of us. That was a really quick and yummy dinner. I was perusing Publix's website for ideas the other day and came across a recipe for cheese fries that sounded really easy and yummy. They were absolutely delicious and we had the leftovers heated up in the oven for lunch the next day. I used "Buffalo" seasoned fries and they had a nice kick that went really well with the cheese and ranch dressing that I served on the side. Make these! You won't regret it.

Cheese Fries

Ingredients

aluminum foil

16 ounces frozen seasoned French fries

1–2 fresh chives (optional)

3/4 cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese

1 tablespoon cooked bacon pieces

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Cover baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread fries on foil and bake 15–20 minutes until golden.
2. Rinse chives and chop finely.
3. Remove fries from oven. Lift corners of foil to gather fries into center, making a mound. Sprinkle cheese, bacon, and chives over fries. Return to oven 1–2 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve.

Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops and Brown Rice Pilaf

2008-01-14T09:23:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I wanted to make something low effort and yummy for dinner. I had been wanting to try Giada Di Laurentis' recipe for Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops for a long time and it just so happened that I had all the ingredients, so I decided to give it a try. I wanted to make something different for the side and wanted to use the brown rice I had just bought so I did a search on http://www.foodnetwork.com/ and found the Brown Rice Pilaf recipe. Both were delicious and we will definately be having them again. I added golden rasins to the rice while it cooked and added toasted pine nuts after cooking like the suggestions said. Next time I would add the rasins but I wouldn't add the pine nuts because Michael didn't like them, and I didn't really think that they added anything to the meal. I sauteed a small diced onion in the butter before adding in the rice and I think that added a really good flavor to the rice as well. I also served this with corn (for Michael) and steamed green beans for me. Very good!

Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

2 large eggs
1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch thick) center-cut pork loin chops (each about 10 to 12 ounces)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
Lemon wedges, for serving

Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place the bread crumbs in another pie plate. Place the cheese in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

So I use recipes as guidelines in my cooking and most of the time don't even really read them. Oops. I just read the recipe because when I cut and paste recipes into blogger it smooshes everything together and then I have to decide logical places to divide the ingredients and the steps. I didn't dip the chops in egg at all, and I mixed the parmesan cheese and the breadcrumbs together and then just pressed that into the pork chops. So if you don't want to use egg you could do it that way. I didn't have any trouble with my crust sticking, but maybe it would have been thicker if I had followed directions. Oh well.

Basic Long-Grain Brown Rice Pilaf
From Food Network Kitchens

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup long grain brown rice (about 6 1/2 ounces)
1 (2-inch) strip fresh lemon peel
2 1/2 cups water, or vegetable broth, low sodium canned or homemade (I used 1/2 stock & 1/2 water)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid, over medium heat. Add the rice and lemon peel and cook, stirring, until slightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the water and add salt to taste, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until all the water has been absorbed by the rice, about 45 minutes. Please don't lift the lid to give a peek or stir or the rice will not cook evenly.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the rice sit, covered, for 10 minutes?{once again, no peeking. Fluff with a fork, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Cook's Note: Zip up this basic pilaf with one of these easy variations: Add a handful of raisin or apricots to the rice with the water. Add chopped parsley, toasted pine nuts and caramelized onions during cooking or to already cooked pilaf. Add chopped fresh herbs and peas to cooked pilaf.

Polenta, or Italian style grits

2008-01-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

When Michael and I went to Italy in 2004, we noticed that many of the restaurants had dishes that came with something called Polenta. We were told that Polenta is like what southerners call grits. I had to try it to see if it could compete, and it was very good. Last night I had breakfast for dinner and wanted some grits, but discovered that I was out. I did have some corn meal though and I had seen Chef Hottie, oh I mean Tyler Florence make polenta out of corn meal. So I went to www.foodnetwork.com to search for a recipe and this is what I came up with. I halved the recipe, but I had to keep adding liquid because the "grits" were getting very dry. I would estimate that I added at least another 1/2 cup of water. Watch these carefully as they have a tendancy to burn on the bottom. These were good, but not as good as grits. Next time I will see if Paula has a reicpe for grits.

Polenta
From Food Network Kitchens

2 cups chicken broth, homemade or low sodium canned
2 cups water
1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or a combination of Pecorino and Parmesan
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring the chicken broth and the water to a boil.

While whisking constantly, slowly pour the cornmeal into the hot liquid. Stir in the salt.

Lower the heat to cook the mixture at a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until the cornmeal is creamy and not grainy, about 30 minutes.

Remove the polenta from the heat and stir in the cheese and the butter. Serve.

Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

Spicy Onion Rings

2008-01-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

I am not sure what I did wrong with this recipe, but the batter did not stick to the onion rings very well. I solved this by pouring some of the batter down over the onion rings in the skillet and then I swirled the onion rings in the batter while it was crisping up. That helped to coat the onion rings, but it also meant a big pile of stuck-together onion rings, which I didn't mind.

I used a Peru sweet onion for the onion rings and used my new mandoline to slice them very thin. I will be making these again as they were very good!

Spicy Onion Rings
Recipe Courtesy of Cathy Lowe (from http://www.foodnetwork.com/

2 large yellow onions (Spanish)
Salt
Cayenne
1 12-ounce can beer
1 cup of flour, sifted
Tabasco
Oil

Slice off ends of onions and peel off the skins. Slice into 1/2-inch rings. Place rings in a bowl of ice water and let sit.

In separate bowl whisk together beer and flour. Season with salt, cayenne, and a dash of Tabasco. Whisk together.

Dry onion rings on paper towels then dip into batter. Heat oil in a large kettle to 375 degrees. Dip dried onion rings in batter. Fry onion rings until brown and crispy. Serve

Tortellini and Panchetta Tomato Soup

2008-01-07T13:51:00.000-05:00

Tortellini and Panchetta Tomato Soup
Source: Me with inspiration from Giada Di Laurentis

1/2 cup Campbell's Tomato Soup Concentrate
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 tsp dried Italian seasonings
1/4 inch thick slice Panchetta (at my deli that is .09 lb) cubed
1/2 cup dried tortellini cooked to al dente (for me that was 5 minutes, which was about half of the time suggested on the package. I have no idea why it was so fast other than that I was cooking a fraction of what was in the package) I used Barilla Spinach and Cheese Tortellini
Water to boil tortellini
Salt for the water used to boil the tortellini
Grated Parmesan cheese to top

Steps:

1. Brown cubed panchetta in a pan until crispy. Drain on a paper towel. Meanwhile bring water to a boil for the tortellini and salt the water.

2. Combine the tomato soup concentrate, the milk and the Italian seasonings in a microwave safe bowl, cover with a paper towel to prevent splashing. Microwave on high for three minutes.

4. Cook tortellini until al dente and then drain.

5. Put cooked tortellini and browned panchetta in the tomato soup and then top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

This is very good and simple. The whole thing from start to finish took about ten minutes. This would be great for a weeknight meal with a simple spinach salad or for a weekend lunch.

I sent some to work with Michael the next day to eat for lunch. I went ahead and combined the soup, Parmesan and panchetta but kept the tortellini separate in a baggie because I didn't want them to get soggy. Here are the directions I sent with Michael for re-heating: Microwave Tomato Soup on high for 2 1/2 minutes. Add in tortellini and cook for 30 seconds on high.

Michael does NOT like hot foods so I wanted to make sure that the soup didn't get too hot for him to eat because I didn't know if he would have enough time on his break to let it cool to a temperature that he could handle. I would have microwaved it for one minute after adding the tortellini.

Michael didn't eat this because apparently he doesn't like tortellini that has cheese in it because he says it usually contains Ricotta Cheese, which he does not like (even though he likes the very similar cottage cheese). Is there any type of tortellini that doesn't have cheese in it?

I think that adding wilted spinach to the soup would also be really great.

Hope you enjoy!

A post for Danielle

2008-01-07T12:31:00.001-05:00

Recently we went over to visit some friends at their apartment and brought dinner along with us. Michael made my cheesy ham and potato casserole (like scalloped potatoes with cheese & ham) and I made some Italian style green beans. One of our friends asked for the recipes so here they are:

Italian Style Green beans a la Jennifer

Source: Me!

1 package frozen Italian style green beans

Water to boil them in (I probably used a quart)

1-2 tablespoons (depending on size of pan) olive oil to coat bottom of skillet

1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons pine nuts (not roasted, raw)

salt and pepper to taste

grated parmesan cheese to top

Steps

1. Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan. Once boiling add green beans and boil until just not frozen. That was probably about three minutes for me. Meanwhile preheat skillet over medium to medium high heat (depending on your stove)

2. Drain green beans. Add olive oil to hot skillet. Allow to heat up. Add in green beans, red pepper flakes, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until done. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and serve.

Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole

The edited recipe that will not make Michael want to pull his hair out the next time he makes it.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

3 medium onions, thinly sliced ( usually leave this out because Michael HATES onions and complains about them and then I sprinkle some minced dried onion flakes on each layer of potatoes but Michael went ahead and used the "real" onions)

boiling water

1 T salt

6 T butter or margarine

4 T flour

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp Paprika

4 1/2 c milk ( I usually use 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 4 cups of milk but Michael got confused and used 1/2 milk and 1/2 heavy cream which is basically half and half)

2 cup shredded cheese (Michael used Colby Jack, I usually use half Colby Jack and half Cheddar)

1 slice of center cut ham steak, cubed (or about 1/2 pound of leftover ham)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put a big pot of water on to boil the potatoes and onions in.

2. Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and paprika until smooth. Slowly add in milk while wisking. Cook over medium until just boiling. Stir about ever minute or so while you work on the rest of the steps. Once it is bubbling, add one cup of the cheese and stir until melted. Sauce should be pretty thick and smooth.

3. Spray a three quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

4. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and onions. Boil in the big pot mentioned in step 1 for about 5 minutes or until slightly tender. Do not cook until tender or they will fall apart once they have more cooking time in the oven.

5. Drain potatoes and onions.

6. Layer 1/3 of the potato onion mixture on the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with 1/3 of the cheese sauce, 1/3 of the ham and 1/3 of the reserved shredded cheese. Repeat 2 more times.

7. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until top is browned and potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

Hints:

I cook this on the top shelf and put a cookie sheet on the bottom shelf because this tends to boil over in the oven.

I tried skipping step 4 (boiling the potatoes and onions before putting them in the casserole dish) once and this did not work. The top of the dish got burned and the potatoes never got done.

I hope you enjoy these recipes!

Drool worthy chicken

2008-01-07T12:21:00.000-05:00

This is another apron's recipe from Publix. I am a huge fan of their recipes because they taste yummy, are easy to prepare and have very detailed directions that are easy to follow. My husband refused to even try a bite of this chicken so I made it on a night that he would be working late I halved the recipe and then ate the leftovers for lunch. This is very filling. I served it with wild mushroom risotto. I made it from a mix that I got at Target. I though the flavor of the risotto was very good, but it was just WAY too salty and I had not added any salt at all. Of course Michael loved it (he tried a bite when he got home) since there is no such thing as too much salt for him, so I am going to send it as lunches for him and I will just add some cooked chicken to it and he can heat it all up together.

Anyways, here is the recipe for the chicken copied directly off of apron's website.

Sun-Dried Tomato Artichoke Chicken

Ingredients1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

large zip-top bag

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons canola oil (I used olive oil because it was closer and I am lazy and didn't want to dig through cabinets)

1/2 cup white wine

6-8 sprigs fresh thyme (rinsed)- I used dry and added it in at the same time I added in the wine.

1 lemon (for juice, rinsed)

1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts (drained)

1/3 cup julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Steps:
1. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2-3 minutes. Cut chicken into 1-inch chunks; place in zip-top bag (wash hands). Add flour; seal bag tightly and shake to coat.

2. Place oil in pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken (wash hands); cook 2-3 minutes, turning once, or until chicken begins to brown.

3. Stir in wine (this is when I added the dried thyme that I used instead of the fresh); reduce heat to medium-low and cook 2-3 minutes or until liquid is slightly reduced. Remove stems from thyme, reserving leaves only.

4. Squeeze juice of one-half lemon over chicken; stir in remaining ingredients (except thyme and cheese). Cover and cook 2-3 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165°F. Use a meat thermometer to accurately ensure doneness.

5. Remove chicken from heat; stir in thyme (if you are using fresh) and sprinkle with cheese. Serve.

CALORIES (per 1/4 recipe) 420kcal; FAT 20g; CHOL 115mg;SODIUM 470mg; CARB 14g; FIBER 2g; PROTEIN 40g;VIT A 8%; VIT C 25%; CALC 6%; IRON 15%

Oh and I meant to tell you I am LOVING all of my new handy kitchen gadgets that I got for Christmas. My lemon hand juicer thingy is the best thing ever. I get so much more juice out of a lemon and it is easier. Plus by flipping up the other side I can use it to juice limes too! Woo hoo! Oh and my handy new microplane makes grating parmesan cheese on top of dishes super easy and fast. I absolutely LOVE it!!!

The benefits to having a cooking blog

2008-01-03T15:14:00.000-05:00

Right now I am at work and it is my husband's day off so he is at home. We have plans to go over to a friend's house at 6:30. We don't think that we are having dinner over there so we need to eat before we go. However, I get off work at 5:00 and then would have to drive home. I would get home about 5:15 and then it would take me about 20 minutes to prep dinner and put it in the oven and then it has to cook for 30 minutes. So it would be 6:05 when dinner is ready. Michael is the world's slowest eater so it would take him at least 15 minutes to eat and then it would be 6:20 Our friends live 30 minutes away so that means the earliest we could get there would be 6:50, if all of my math is correct.

But, because I have a blog with the recipe for my cheesy ham and potato casserole in it, my husband can get on his computer, or more likely his Wii browser, and look up the recipe and make it so that it is ready when I get home. No digging through cookbooks and searching for recipes because it is clearly labeled in my blog.

How great is that?

By the way, hi honey and thanks for making dinner.

Love,
The Diva

Easy zuccini

2007-12-17T14:27:00.000-05:00

I love zuccini (or however you spell that little green squash) but never really had it growing up so I didn't know how to cook it. Recently I ordered some at a local restaurant. It was breaded and fried and then sprinkled with parmesan cheese and served with marinara sauce. I decided that I really wanted to try this at home but that I wanted to make a healthier version. I saw somewhere that some people dip chicken breasts in Italian dressing and then dip in breadcrumbs to add flavor and save some fat and calories from dipping in egg. That is what I wanted to do, until I realized that we didn't have any Italian dressing. The thought of dipping them in egg was VERY unappetizing so I improvised and used water. Here's my "recipe:"

1 zuccini, thinly sliced into coin shapes
1/4 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs (I used the stuff from the can)
a few tablespoons water
Olive oil cooking spray
Marinara sauce (I actually used some pizza sauce that I made that same day and I will post that recipe in a couple of days)
a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dip zuccini slices into water and then into bread crumbs and then place on a baking sheet. Spray well with olive oil cooking spray. Bake for 6 minutes or until browned. Flip over. Spray other side with the olive oil spray and then bake for 6 more minutes. Remove to plate. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and serve with marinara sauce.

This is really good and I can't wait to have it again. I think I will make this anytime I am making a red sauce with pasta and then just serve it with that sauce.

Steak potatoes

2007-12-16T17:30:00.000-05:00

1/4 pound ground sirloin
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Worshire (sp?) Sauce

2 potatoes
2 slices cheddar cheese

Cook ground sirloin over medium high heat in a non-stick pan until nearly browned. Add salt, pepper and Worshire Sauce. Finish browing. Drain well to drain off fat and excess sauce. Put in a baggie and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scrub two baking potatoes, then poke holes in them with a fork and bake at 350 degrees for 75 minutes (1 hour, 15 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool until you can handle without burning yourself. Slice open potatoes and put half of sirloin mixture in each potato and top with a slice of cheese. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until sirloin mixture is heated up and cheese is melted.

Last night I made cheeseburger individual pizzas so I doubled the sirloin recipe to use on those. I call these steak potatoes since I use ground sirloin.

Michael Cooks Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

2007-12-11T09:22:00.000-05:00

Last night I was exhausted and so did not feel like cooking but I wanted Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Fresh Greenbeans in the WORST sort of way. So I asked my DH if he minded cooking last night if I gave him a recipe. He said he would!

I made this recipe about a year ago. I was at Publix doing some grocery shopping and they were handing out samples. It was so good that I made this for dinner that night. I somehow lost the recipe and forgot about it until recently. I was going to Publix for lunch and decided to swing by the Apron's counter and see if they had the recipe. They always have two recipes on the counter and then some on a spinner. Well the recipe I was looking for just happened to be sitting out on the rack!

I think that my DH did a better job of making this than I did. We didn't have pre-made refrigerator mashed potatoes so he made homemade and we just had regular green beans, not the pre-snipped kind. Also we did not have bacon bits, only bacon so he zapped some in the microwave. All in all that added about 15 minutes on to the 30 minute estimation that they give to make these recipes.

Here is the recipe copied straight from the Publix site:

Country-Fried Steak, Peppered Mashed Potatoes, Southern Green Beans
Meal Time - 30 minutes / Serves 4
Cooking Sequence
Prepare potatoes through step 1 and beans through step 1 - 5 minutes
Prepare steaks and begin to cook - 10 minutes
Complete beans - 10 minutes
Complete steaks and potatoes; serve - 5 minutes

Country-Fried Steak

Ingredients

1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 cup egg substitute (or 2 large eggs, beaten)
2/3 cup plain bread crumbs
4 cubed steaks (about 1 1/2 lb)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 packet sausage gravy mix (about 2 1/2 oz)
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 cup water

Steps

1. Combine flour and seasoned salt in medium bowl. Place egg substitute in second bowl and bread crumbs in third bowl. Preheat large sauté pan on medium 1–2 minutes.

2. Dredge each steak in flour mixture, coating evenly. Dip into eggs; remove and let excess drip off. Dredge in bread crumbs (wash hands). Place oil in pan; swirl to coat. Add steaks (wash hands); cook 3–4 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove from pan and cover to keep warm.

3. Stir in gravy mix and gradually add milk and water, stirring continually, until gravy is smooth. Reduce heat to low and cook 2–3 minutes, stirring often, to heat thoroughly. Serve gravy over steaks.

Peppered Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

1 (24-ounce) package refrigerated mashed potatoes
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper

Steps

1. Combine all ingredients in microwave-safe bowl; cover.
2. Microwave on HIGH 4 minutes, stirring once, or until hot. Stir and serve.

Southern Green Beans

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) bag snipped green beans
2 cups water
1 tablespoon cooked bacon pieces
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Steps

1. Place beans and water in medium saucepan on high and bring to boil. Boil 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until beans begin to soften.

2. Drain; stir in remaining ingredients. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until desired tenderness. Serve.

Shopping List

ADD ALL 17 ITEMS TO LIST
Dairy
1 (24-ounce) package refrigerated mashed potatoes
1/2 cup egg substitute (or 2 large eggs)
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter

Dry Grocery
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 teaspoons + 1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 packet sausage gravy mix (about 2 1/2 oz)
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup plain bread crumbs
3 tablespoons canola oil

Meat
1 tablespoon cooked, crumbled bacon
4 cube steaks (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Produce
1 (12-ounce) bag snipped green beans

Utensils & Cookware
large sauté pan
medium saucepan with lid
microwave-safe bowl with lid
mixing bowls, colander
tongs, cooking spoons
measuring utensils

Shortcuts & Tips
To reduce fat content, try the steak recipe with chicken cutlets instead.

I would like to thank my husband for making such a great meal and Publix for providing such great recipes!

Twice Baked Bacon, Ranch and Cheddar Potatoes

2007-12-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

My husband is a meat and potato kind of guy. Sometimes I like to treat him to a meal just for him with things that I know he will love. A local grocery store had T-bones on sale for $4.99 a pound this week so a picked a couple up and we had them last night. Since we are having summer weather here I went ahead and had DH grill them outside. With a kiss on the cheek and a request to not under-cook my steak he marched outside to begin his manly task. Meanwhile I whipped these up to serve with them. These take a while to prepare so we probably won't be having them during the week and they are calorie overload so they are definately for a rare treat. DH LOVED them so I know that I'll be making them again.

2 small baking potatoes
4 strips of bacon cooked to crispy and crumbled
4 oz of sharp cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing
1/2 Teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 Teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scrub potatoes and dry. Poke holes in the skin with a fork so that the potato doesn't explode.

2. Bake for one hour.

3. Remove from oven and let cool until you can handle the potatoes without burning yourself.4. Combine bacon, cheese and ranch dressing in a bowl. Cut potatoes in half length-wise and scoop out the white part. Combine with cheese mixture. Put the potato and cheese mixture back into the potato skins and mound up smoothing the tops with the back of the spoon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.5. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and the potato mixture is warmed up.

Suzabelle takes over Mommy's blog

2007-12-05T13:49:00.000-05:00

Hi bloggers!

This is Suzabelle. You may have heard my Mommy talk about me before. She usually calls me "the crazy Chihuahua." First of all, mom, I am 1/2 pug too. Secondly, just because I run around the house chasing my sisters 18/7 (I have to sleep sometimes!), destroy anything I can find when you leave the house, and give you militant kisses, I still don't understand why that makes me crazy, that just makes me a Chihuahua!

Oh, Mommy says I have ADD and I got distracted... anyways back to the reason I am taking over Mommy's blog today. I have to tell you about my new FAVORITE THING EVER!!! (other than Mommy of course) Mom brought home a pint of Haagen Das Frozen Yogurt yesterday (Vanilla and Raspberry Swirl) and she gave me and that new puppy (Isabelle) a bite when she was done. I have never tasted anything better in my life! That is way better than jelly beans (which I steal from dad) and Ms. Kitty's food (which I steal from Ms. Kitty- I don't understand why I have to share with Izzy but Ms. Kitty doesn't have to share with me). When I saw Mommy get up to put the rest in the freezer my little heart ached and so I cried. I wanted Mommy to give me the rest but she says I have to stay "healthy" so we can be together forever. So Mommy got me a Breath Buster bone (what are you trying to tell me Mom) but that didn't make my little aching heart feel any better. :-(

Mommy says that if I am good today and do not shred all of the toilet paper in the house or eat any shoes that I can have some after dinner. I guess there is at least that.

All of you should run to the store RIGHT THIS MINUTE and pick some up. Have a bite for me, and if you could sneak me a pint or two behind Mommy's back I am sure that she would never find out. :)

Tropical Chicken

2007-11-30T09:35:00.001-05:00

I am calling this tropical chicken for lack of a better name. I recently had some very yummy chicken at California Dreaming and wanted to try to duplicate it at home. This is what I came up with.

Tropical Chicken

2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup terriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 Tablespoon butter

Combine the pineapple juice, terriyaki sauce, soy sauce and ground ginger, stir well. Pour 1/2 cup into a seal able plastic bag. Reserve the remainder in the refrigerator. Add the chicken breasts to the plastic bag and place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

Preheat an oven-safe grill pan over medium-high heat on the stove. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove chicken from bag and pat dry. Dispose of plastic bag and marinade that was in the bag.

Once the pan is heated up, put the chicken in the pan and sear on both sides. Once seared on both sides, place pan and chicken in the oven. Cook until chicken is done, usually about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to "rest" before cutting or serving.

Meanwhile, reduce reserved marinade in a pan over medium heat. Keep reducing until the marinade is a syrupy like consistency. At the end add in the tablespoon of butter. Serve over chicken.

This was very good, and while the steps sound complicated it was actually pretty quick. I served with steamed vegetables and Zataran's Carribean Rice. I highly recommend the rice. It was very good.

Hope you enjoy!

Gingerbread Pancakes

2007-11-30T08:56:00.000-05:00

I wasn't exactly sure when Michael would be home last night, so I wanted something that would be quick to make. I also wanted him to have a warm, comforting meal because he has been working his booty off. A few days ago I was browsing through the Betty Crocker website looking for Bisquick recipes. I accidentally found myself with two open boxes and wanted to use them up. I found this recipe and set it aside. I thought it would be perfect for last night. I served these with maple sausage (my husband's favorite!) and some maple syrup (although I ate mine plain). These would make an excellent Christmas morning meal, as they are very quick to whip up. I hope you enjoy! My notes are in Italic.

Gingerbread Pancakes

Spice up your morning with pancakes flavored with rich apple butter, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Prep Time:25 min
Start to Finish:30 min
Makes:18 pancakes

2 1/2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 cup milk
3/4 cup apple butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs

1. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat or electric griddle to 375ºF (for me this meant medium high); grease with cooking spray, vegetable oil or shortening. (Surface is ready when a few drops of water sprinkled on it dance and disappear.)

2. Stir all ingredients until blended. Spoon batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle.

3. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until brown. (My edges never got dry so I flipped when there were a lot of bubbles on the top)

Very exciting news

2007-11-27T11:00:00.001-05:00

It should be noted that I have never really been a picky eater.

So I read an article that said that your tastes change in your mid-20's because your taste buds can become less sensitive and that many people who disliked certain things as children find that as adults they now like them. I have been trying things for the last few months that I thought I did not like to great results. For example, I didn't think I liked squash... turns out that I do! So I finally decided that I would eat peas, or at least try them. I was a true pea hater. Even my myspace name has something to do with hating peas.

I ordered a meal in a restaurant last week (when my dad and I went to see the Cirque Dreams show) that came with several choices for sides. One of them was steamed vegetables and the vegetables were broccoli (my favorite), cauliflower (also a favorite), carrots (yum), and snow peas in the pod (um...) so I decided that this would be the perfect time to try peas because even if I still did not like them, I had some of my other favorites to fall back on. I timidly took my first bite of the peas and was pleasantly surprised. They taste very similar to green beans and those are another of my favorites (I have many favorite vegetables if you couldn't tell by now).

So then at Thanksgiving my mother-in-law made creamed peas. I asked many questions before trying them: "what's in them?", "what kind of peas are these?", etc. Once I had received my responses: peas in a cream sauce and frozen, I decided to give them a try. I closed my eyes and took a bite and wow! they were great.

So, in conclusion, my hatred of peas is over. I don't know that I will ever have the love affair with peas that I enjoy with broccoli but I can now tolerate them and at least mildly enjoy them.

My kitchen problem

2007-11-27T10:43:00.000-05:00

I have a problem in the kitchen. I can't measure. I knew last night that I wanted to make stew meat for dinner and so I called my mom to confirm a recipe. Her recipe is a little of this and that. So I told myself as I was driving home that I would measure my ingredients so that I could make a post on last night's dinner. I was sure that I would make friends with my measuring cups and spoons. Until I got in the kitchen. It is second nature for me to pick up ingredients and just start tossing them in. Who needs measurements when you can add a dash, pinch or splash? So the result was a very tasty meal but no recipe for my blog. Stew meat is different from beef stew (so my husband says) in that you are eating cubes of meat and vegetables in a thick gravy like sauce. It is served over rice and doesn't have potatoes in it (which I think beef stew does).

Here are some of the things I pinched, dashed and splashed to get the meal:

First I made a flour mixture with flour, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt (kosher), and fresh ground pepper. I rolled my cubes of meat in the flour mixture and then browned them in my pan. I used maybe three tablespoons of oil to brown a whole lot of stew meat. I had parceled it out from a bigger package but my husband thinks it was about a pound and a half of meat.

Once the meat was browned on all sides (and I had to do that in batches), I removed them all to a plate and then carmelized one sliced onion in the drippings. Don't forget to add your pinch of salt because it helps in the carmelization process. Then I deglazed the pan with some red wine. I used about 1/2 cup of Merlot. Once that was bubbling and slightly reduced (but not nearly syrupy like it can get when you reduce) I added the meat back in and added about 4 cups of boiling water. I also added about a cup of beef stock. I let that simmer for about 45 minutes.

**** Please note: I should have added minced garlic to the onions right before I deglazed the pan but I forgot to. I realized it about 30 minutes in to the simmering process so I just sprinkled in about 1/2 tsp of garlic powder. I don't think it was as good but it was passing. ****

Once the 45 minutes were up, I tested for seasonings. I ended up adding probably a tablespoon of salt (I use low sodium stock and hadn't put much in the flour) and probably 2 tsps of pepper. I added in sliced carrots and parsnips (one of my new favorite things). I also made a slurry with about 1/4 cup of beef stock and the leftover flour from coating the beef and then I had to add a couple of tablespoons more flour to that. I turned the heat up a little since flour does not thicken until it boils. I let that cook for 15 more minutes until the vegetables were done.

I served this over rice that was cooked in half water and half beef stock.

This was very good and Michael requested that I make it again.

For dinner tonight I am on my own since Michael will be working late. I think I am going to try to "recreate" a restaurant meal that I really like. I am going to marinate a chicken breast in Teriyakki (or however you spell that) sauce and add in a little pineapple juice. Then I will cook in my grill pan and finish in the oven. I'll serve it with steamed veggies like I had at the restaurant. They were broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and snow peas. Then they were tossed with a small amount of butter and sprinkled with seasoning salt. I'll let y'all know how that goes and I will TRY to measure. I think I need to put a sign up in my kitchen "remember to measure your ingredients." Oh well. A zebra can't change it's stripes and I guess I can't change the way I naturally cook. I have some very exciting news to tell you and I will create a new post for that.

Bye for now.