March 5th, 2011 In honor of Mardis Gras this coming week let’s make some gumbo, yo?!
I give all credit for this awesome gumbo to our sweet friends Donald and Rene’. We loved hanging out with them and hearing Rene’ tell stories from Louisiana. I miss them and their amazing hospitality.
I have the recipe Donald wrote up for me in his handwriting. It doesn’t have amounts or measurements. I remember the night they taught me to make it and there was a lot of “just dump this in, just add these, put a lot of that, and a little less of that.” I intend to type it in just as he has it written. Good luck, go make a King Cake for after dinner and enjoy!
Ingredients
Chicken
Sausage
Onion
Celery
Bell Pepper
Butter
Instant Roux
Rice
Garlic Salt
Directions
Boil chicken. Save broth.
Finely chop celery, onion, and bell pepper.
Saute in butter.
Add chicken and sausage.
Add seasoning, instant roux, and broth.
Serve over rice.
He doesn’t mention it in the recipe, but they would also boil eggs and drop one, peeled, into your bowl of gumbo. You were to eat it right along with your gumbo and rice. We loved it! May you as well! (And we miss you Teaters!)
February 5th, 2011 Which, by the way, in my head is totally spelled “devilled”.
Ingredients
- 12 boiled eggs peeled* and sliced in half
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons mustard
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- paprika for garnish
Directions
- Scoop yolks out of boiled eggs (by gently pushing from the outside of the egg to pop them out)
- Place yolks in a separate mixing bowl. Set egg whites aside (in one of those nifty deviled egg trays if you have, if, like me you don’t, then just use a casserole dish)
- Mix all above ingredients (except for the paprika) together with yolks using a fork to mash it all together well
- Scoop mix back into egg whites and sprinkle paprika on top for garnish
*I asked my friends on Facebook (and my sister!) how to get the egg shells off without peeling all the whites off with them. Here are the suggestions I tried that worked beautifully! Use older eggs (not rotten, obviously, just not super fresh). I put them in a pot and covered them with cold water. Then brought the water to a boil and boiled them for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes. I think that’s longer than everybody suggests, but I’m paranoid that way. Then I removed them from the heat, drained off the boiling water and ran cold water into the pot over them. I let them set for a few minutes. Then I ran each one under cold water, tapped them, cracked them, and peeled them under the cold running water. No problems, beautiful eggs!
My family eats these for snacks (though they don’t last long!) This is an easy recipe to double or triple if you’re taking it to a family gathering too.
Enjoy!
December 10th, 2010 I’ve tried several different versions of this and we haven’t really been happy with the blandness of them. So this is our version. Go blander for the kiddos if you want by leaving out the jalapenos.
Though I didn’t have the forethought to do it this year, this would make a great crockpot recipe for those cold Christmas parade nights. Or those long cold days shopping. Imagine walking in to a great smelling house and a warm dinner.
Okay, okay, without further ado here’s our taco soup recipe.
Ingredients
1 – 15 oz. can Light Red Kidney Beans
1 – 15 oz. can Bush’s Best (or whatever brand, we just happened to use this kind last time) Chili Beans
1 – 15 oz. can Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 – 10 oz. can Rotel
1 – 10 oz. can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 packet Ranch Seasoning Mix
1 packet Taco Seasoning Mix
2 teaspoons minced garlic (we use those jars of minced garlic for everything, if you don’t have this just substitute some garlic powder)
1/2 white onion chopped
3 or 4 slices jalapenos with 1 tsp of the juice from them (again we use a gigantic jar of sliced pickled jalapenos for about everything so there’s less waste – you’re not opening a can and throwing away what you don’t use every time you need some)
1 cup chicken broth (made from granules or cubes or premade and frozen, the point is just to have an extra cup or so broth in your soup, we omitted this and it was not soup-y enough)
3 boiled chicken breasts shredded
Optional Toppings
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Tortilla Chips
Directions
Once again I have to say, if you cook ahead and use freezer cooking, this recipe is super quick. Cooking ahead eliminates chopping the onion, boiling and shredding the chicken, worrying about the broth, shredding cheese, and keeping the minced garlic jar and sliced jalapenos on hand all makes for a very quick meal.
Are you ready for the complexity of this meal?
Open all those ingredients up there except for the toppings. Save those for, you know, the topping.
Dump all those ingredients in your crockpot. You’re not even going to drain the beans or tomatoes or anything. Just put it all in. Stir.
Start the crockpot on low.
Leave it alone, except for maybe an occasional stirring of the ingredients, for several hours. I don’t have an exact number for this partly because very little I do is exact and partly because everything in this recipe is already cooked you’re just waiting for it to all meld and taste good together.
That’s it.
When you serve it, set some shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips on the table. I like to crumble the chips in, some like to dip it.
Oh, I should also include that some people put a can of corn in theirs. But we don’t like the corn addition. It just seems weird and out of place to me. But that may just be my sensory issues at work again. I don’t know.
Enjoy!!
October 14th, 2010
I love a good roast slow cooked with veggies set aside some rolls, but this has become much more popular in my house. And oh, so handy to have ready any time.
Ingredients
2-4 pound chuck roast (we go with larger, because we’re a larger family who loves these things)
ground black pepper to taste
2 or 3 teaspoons beef bullion granules
half a white onion sliced (or if you have them frozen, and you do now, don’t you?) just grab a handful
1 tablespoon minced garlic (we use the kind in the jar because we use garlic in just about everything)
3/4 cup water
For the sandwiches:
1 – 2 packs sub rolls (again depending on how big of a roast you’re cooking)
cooking spray (or butter spray)
sliced cheese (we like mozzarella)
mayo
Directions for cooking the roast
I like it better seared, but sometimes I’m just too lazy to do it. It’s up to you. Seared is better, but lazy is acceptable.
If you have done your big grocery shop for your freezer cooking this roast goes straight into your fridge to be cooked the week you bought it. You can freeze it raw, just like it is and remember to set it out the night before to thaw it if you so desire, but that adds another step. And I’m for eliminating steps. You could fully cook the meat, slice it, ziplock it, and then you’d have a quicker sandwich component later if you wanted, though I’ve not done that yet. Because by the time I smell it cooking all day, I want to eat it.
Okay, onto the searing.
Take your thawed roast: rinse, pat dry with paper towels, pierce 2 or 3 times 2 inches deep or so with a sharp knife (to allow the seasoning to get to the inside of the roast) and sprinkle black pepper to taste.
Melt a pat of butter (or use cooking spray) in your cast iron skillet. Heat skillet on high on stovetop. When your skillet is hot set your roast in pan for 3 minutes without moving it. Flip it over and sear the other side. While roast is browning set half your onions (and yes, straight from the freezer, still frozen is fine) in the bottom of the crockpot, add your water to the crockpot. When roast has been browned on both sides set it on top of the onions in the crockpot – carefully, it’s hot, yo. (and you do know you’re just sealing in the flavor of the meat, not actually cooking the thing in the pan, right? Just starting at square one, folks, because I didn’t know these things when I started cooking)
Sprinkle the beef bullion granules on top of your roast and then smear the minced garlic all over the top – I just use the back of the spoon for smearing. Put the other half of the onions on top of that and then set your crockpot on low for 5 -8 hours – I don’t know how long, I set it in the morning and check it throughout the day. Getting a meat thermometer would probably be a good idea. Because for this recipe you don’t want your roast falling apart, just cooked.
Directions for the sandwich making
When roast is done (check by slicing into the middle of the roast – does it cut easily? are the juices running clear? does it, you know, look done?) turn off crockpot. Carefully remove roast to a cutting board. Leave all the juices and stuff in the crockpot, you’ll need those.
Attempt to slice the roast. I say attempt because I don’t have an electric knife which my mother-in-law swears by, but my sharp knife works just fine. You’re aiming for 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. If your slicing falls smooth apart and you end up with shredded meat sandwiches, all the better, don’t stress on it. Set aside.
Turn your attention to the bread and the au jus now.
Spray your griddle (or griddles as the case may be for us) and lay your sub rolls face down to lightly toast them.
Remove them from the griddle and lightly coat insides with mayo. Set the bottom side of the rolls back onto hot griddle outsides down this time. Lay your meat and cheese on them, if you like cooked onions on your sandwiches pull them from the crockpot and layer them here. Put your top sandwich bun on and smoosh it flat. Yes, somehow this makes them better. Smoosh and flip to toast other side.
We cut our subs into thirds because that makes just the right size little sandwiches for our kiddos.
Directions for the au jus
Strain your juice from the crockpot and pour into your now-cleaned-out iron skillet. Heat the juices, add a little water (I don’t know, 1/4 cup, a 1/2 cup? I really don’t know, just enough to look right.) I cook by looks, you know this by now, right?
When it’s hot pour into a bowl for your sandwich dipping pleasure.
Leftovers are one of the great things about this meal. You have pre-made sandwiches now. That are as good cold as they were warm. The key here is to make sure they are cooled on a plate in the fridge before putting them in a ziplock, otherwise they’ll get all soggy from the condensation.
Now you have a quick picnic lunch, an easy proteiny breakfast, a mid-day snack, a fourth meal, whatever.
Oh, how I wish I had a roast now! Happy eating, guys!
August 29th, 2010 Recipes, frugal eating on the go, large family shopping ideas, and freezer cooking kits all in one!
We’re learning to make the most of our Sam’s trips slowly. Last week Matt hit on the best thing ever. First of all, let me say if you have a membership to Sam’s you can not only get your diapers for much less you can drop into their cafe and get amazing deals on lunch or dinner. You can get a huge Nathan’s hot dog and drink for about $1.75 or a large slice of pizza and a drink for under $3. Y’all, for a family of 7 that is da bomb. Last week while ordering our after-church hot dogs Matt ordered a case of fully-cooked 16 inch pizza crusts. 20 of them. For, get this, $16. Wow. And we all know the hardest part of getting a homemade pizza right is the crust. No more. You ask for them at the food counter where you get your hot dogs, not in the frozen foods section in the back. They come in a big box. We set our box straight into the freezer and pull out however many we want to cook up at a time. While we were at Sam’s we bought a mega pack of mozzarella, pepperoni, and sauce (those are found in the regular food section of the store). When we got home (or in reality 4 days after they sat in the fridge waiting for me) I divided the huge packs of pepperoni and cheese into little freezer bags according to the amount we would need for each pizza. And because we like to experiment with all kinds of pizzas we also bought some pre-cooked grilled chicken chunks (you could save money by doing these yourself, we just didn’t this time), barbeque sauce, alfredo sauce, bacon, garlic, black olives, green olives, and fruit. We also want to try a chocolate chip cookie dough soon.
So far we’ve tried cheese sticks: frozen crust, melted butter spread all over, garlic (we love the huge pre-chopped garlic – we use it for everything) spread all over, and then cheese sprinkled on top. When you divide your cheese if you put it straight into the freezer it will stay loose and not melt down into a huge clump. Then when you want to make a pizza you can reach into the bag and put the frozen cheese you want onto the frozen crust – no thawing. We bake all of the pizzas at 400 degrees for about 10 or 15 minutes – just check for a melty golden cheese on top. Serve the cheese sticks with the pasta sauce you would normally use on the pizza.
Here are a couple we had yesterday.
The cheese pizza is the kids’ fall back favorite. I should’ve used more cheese. Oh well, they didn’t seem to mind this time. The other is a chicken, garlic, tomato, alfredo. Oh my, y’all. The only thing that would’ve made this one better is crumbled bacon. But we forgot to make it ahead of time. I think the pizza made it into our bellies just fine without it though. Chicken Alfredo Pizza: frozen crust, spread some chopped garlic on top, half a jar of alfredo sauce, a little salt, mozzarella, grilled chicken chunks, sliced fresh tomatoes, and a little more cheese just to hold the chicken and tomatoes on. 400 degrees for almost 15 minutes. Oh my.
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