Jambalaya/gumbo

I was amazed with even myself on this one.  It was super simple, could easily serve 5 or more, and cost about $6.  Yep, $6.  But there are some additions I would make that would definitely bring up the cost. I just didn't have the extras (yes I will tell) so it was only about $6.


Anyway, to the point...


You will need:
Smoked Sausage sliced to preferred size (14 oz pkg, some brands differ, it really doesn't matter)
Family Size Zataran's Jambalaya mix
4 tbls vegetable oil
1 bag frozen corn
1 bag frozen spinach
8 cups of water (more if you would like it a bit soupier)
3 tbls New Orleans style seasoning


Mix all the ingredients in a big pot, bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer.  Cook 25 minutes.  Serve.  Yep, that was it.  And it was awesome!


Now if I had the ingredients on hand, I would have absolutely added some crawfish (or shrimp if you prefer) and okra.  

As for the seasoning, I found this stuff at Dollar Tree. I'm not sure what I'll do when I run out because I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.  But then again, I've never really looked so it may be easier to find than I think.  to explain the flavor, I think you would had to have had crawfish at some point.  The taste reminds me of the flavor of the crawfish I've had around here. The ingredient list is as follows, and in proper order: salt, paprika, sugar, spices, onion, garlic, soy grits, and silicon dioxide.  I really hope you can find it or something like it.  I really love the stuff!

EASY Rice!!

1 cup rice (brown, white, mix, etc.)
1tbls unsalted butter
Pepper to your liking

1 chicken/beef bouillon cube
OR
2 tbls soy sauce


Seriously, this is so easy.  Cook the rice according to directions on bag.  Include bouillon and butter in cooking.  This is a very flavorful alternative to plain rice.  This is going to load you on sodium, unless you use low sodium soy sauce, so please keep that in mind.  It's not a healthy alternative, just a flavorful alternative.

With that said, my husband and I enjoy the "Pasta Sides" that are quick and easy sides for dinner.  There typically is just a bit more sodium in this rice when using bouillon than what you will find in those, but you are getting  rid of a considerable amount of the fat and calorie content.  So in that respect, it is a bit healthier than that option.  And then you have soy sauce.  That stuff has an insane amount of sodium.  I love the stuff and cook with it very often.  And I'm sure that if you have concerns about sodium, you know to avoid soy sauce.  But if not, please educate yourself on what you use in your cooking and then make your decisions on what to use.

On a side note, I use a rice cooker.  By far one of the most used appliances in my kitchen!  If you enjoy rice, definitely invest in one.  They really aren't that expensive.

Smothered Pork Chops

4 Breakfast Pork Chops boneless
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet italian seasoning
1 8oz pkg cream cheese softened
2 cups shredded colby jack (or your choice)
Salt and pepper or spice mix (read about it in my other blog post http://chefelyce02.blogspot.com/2012/06/spice-for-everything.html!)


Grease 9x9 oven safe dish, lay flat porkchops.  Mine overlay a bit but I'm not too worried about it.


Mix remaining ingredients, pour over pork chops.


Bake at 350 for 35 minutes -- You can use thicker pork chops but you must cook longer.  We don't do large portions in our house so the thin sliced breakfast chops work perfectly.


Serve over easy rice (recipe coming soon) or your choice of pasta.


I think the sauce would work just as well for sliced roast beef or chicken.  
You can swap out the cream cheese with sour cream and still get a similar flavor and should thin the sauce just a bit.  
Swap the italian dressing with ranch for an entirely different but awesome flavor!


Be sure to let me know what you try or would like to try with this recipe!


Happy cooking!

Crock pot chicken and dumplings

2lbs of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 

3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter diced

2 cans (10.5oz) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

3 cups Chicken Broth

5 tbls minced onion

1 can Large Flaky Refrigerator Biscuits

Flour for rolling out biscuits 

Salt and pepper

Place thawed chicken in crock pot and top with salt, pepper, and diced butter.  Mix cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and diced onions, then pour over chicken.  Start slow cooker at High for 4-6 hours or Low for 8 hours.  Separate biscuits, roll till VERY thin on floured surface (they will thicken, I promise). Slice dough to desired size.  Place strips on top of mixture in the cooker, being sure the dough is not touching the cooker.  It's okay if there are layers of dough.  It will separate when stirred.  Continue cooking for time allotted.  Stir after two hours till all ingredients are mixed together.  The dough will help thicken the mix. 

At about an hour out from being done, check to make sure you are happy with the consistency.  Add more broth to thin it or soup to thicken it to your liking.  

Before serving, remove chicken from slow-cooker and shred with a fork.  Return to slow-cooker and stir everything together.  Serve hot.

If you want to be less involved, stir the dough in with the mix at the beginning.  In my opinion the dough seems to be more doughy this way.  By no means does it make it taste different.  I just prefer the dough to be cooked a little differently.  

I consider chicken and dumplings to be more of a stew like consistency, but prefer it thin.  Sometimes, I even like it straight up soup like.  When I do it with much more both, I throw in some diced carrots and celery.  The celery adds flavor and the carrots are, well, just delicious.

Don't forget to add any ideas you may have.  I really do love to hear input!

Oh, and that totally is my pic up there.  It may not be a great pic, but I'm proud of it! :-)

Happy cooking!

Grandma's Snack Mix

So every Christmas, my grandma makes something for everyone.  Seriously, EVERYONE!  Her house is loaded with treats!  My treat... snack mix.  I've loved this stuff since I was a kid.  I get a whole gallon sized ziplock bag and absolutely look forward to it!


1 (1 oz) package ranch dressing mix
1/4 vegetable oil1 tablespoon dried dill weed 1/2 t garlic powder 1 box or bag oyster crackers

2 cups goldfish crackers or cheese-its(sp?)

2 cups pretzels
Can you tell my favorite part is the oyster crackers??? :-)

In a small bowl, combine first four ingredients and mix well.  Mix up the crackers and pretzels in a large bowl.  Then mix it all up, trying to coat the crackers as much as possible.  Pour mix onto a large cookie sheet.
Bake 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.


Obviously I need a better picture.  Looks like I might have to make some to get that picture. ;-)

Spice for everything!

I got the idea from Rachel Ray to make a combo of spices several years ago, and I've been doing it ever since!  I'm not sure her recipe, but I'm sure you can find it on her site.  Her measurements will be better of course. ;-)

Random spice bottle -- If it's a common spice you use, be sure to remove the label so you don't get them mixed up, or just write mix on top of the cap if it's not black.


You pick the spices!


I use:
For the base:
Lawreys Seasoning salt


Additions
My must haves:
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Cayenne pepper


Depending on my mood that day, I might throw in:
Tony Chacharies (sp?)
Montreal Steak Seasoning
New Orleans Style seasoning
Paprika (I just like the color :-P)
Red Pepper flakes (just make sure the holes for pouring are big enough)
Beef Bouillon granules


I always pour the seasoning salt in the bottle about half way.  Then about a quarter of the way up, I pour the garlic, then the same for the onion.  I don't do nearly as much on the cayenne because my husband isn't too fond of spicy food.  Whatever room I have left, I typically throw in some Tony Chacharies, Montreal, and paprika to top it off.  Sometimes I'll try something a little different but really haven't noticed big differences.


Once I top it off, I pour it all into a measuring cup and mix it up.  Then I funnel it back into the bottle.  Now don't get all frazzled about this funneling business!  I just make one out of a sheet of paper because it's dry product and funnels drive me crazy when they clog up with dry product.  So anyway, moving on... Don't worry if it won't all fit.  Just put the cap on and shake it up.  It'll make the spices settle lower.


Done and done!


I use this stuff like crazy.  It goes into just about everything we eat.  I use it to season the flour when frying chicken, when I precook all my beef (that's another post you should read ;-) ), on veggies -- It's wonderful for stir fry but I usually beef up the pepper content with that, it's amazing to throw on fries straight out of the fryer,  and I've even used it when cooking rice in the slow cooker!  I would imagine 4 out of 5 meals I make have this seasoning.  Once you find what you like best, I'm sure you will use it just as much!

Back in action...

So after a long two weeks, I'm finally back!  Given circumstances at home, I had to head to my parents for a bit.  Came back home and I was a bit on the depressed side.  If you don't really know me, my story is short.  Troubles in my marriage that date back to almost the day we got married.  After numerous attempts at reviving a loving marriage, I had my fill of it failing and just had to leave to figure out what I was willing to deal with, and what I was not willing to deal with.  I came to some conclusions and discussed and cussed them with my husband to no avail.  So then he left.  The entire time we were apart, I was absolutely heartbroken.  I love my husband probably enough to put up with whatever he puts out, but I no longer have to concern myself with only me.  I need my son to see a man that treats his wife with respect and love.  That wasn't happening so the big "D" was in order.  Within a week, my husband came home and said he would do what ever it takes to make things work.  You can say I am skeptical, but I didn't go into a marriage thinking there was an easy way out if things ever got tough.  So I'm willing to work through another round of whatever you would call this.  I really am hoping for the best and will work to get there, I just hope my husband is as well.  But anyway, for as long as I am at home, I will continue to try out new recipes and let you know what I think of them.  Cooking is a big stress reliever anyway, so this may help in my attempt at working towards a better marriage! I hope to have my next recipe up shortly so be on the look out!

Cream Cheese Frosting -- I could eat this by the spoonful!

Please forgive me for this just being a link, but I change nothing about it.  I really do love this stuff and I really thought I should share it.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/cream-cheese-frosting-ii-2/Detail.aspx

Simple Bacon Quiche

6 Eggs lightly beaten
2-3 Handfuls of shredded cheese (Your preference, I used colby jack and cheddar)
1 Sheet pepperidge farm puff pastry
1 Pound Bacon


Fully cook bacon and crumble to your liking.  I chopped mine in the food processor because obviously it's easier.  Mix together with egg and cheese. Add salt and pepper if desired.


Roll out puff pastry on floured surface.   Place in greased 9"x 9" dish/pan letting excess hangover sides.  Place all of mixture in dish, and pull excess dough over filling till fully covered


Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Allow to stand for 10 minutes to allow settling before serving.


I will say that even though there's not much to do, it does take some time.  Some things to help ease some of that pain would be to buy precooked bacon.  Obviously a bit more expensive, but if you like your time, by all means, this is a good way to go.  Also, you can get the pre-done pie crust, however you lose the flakiness of the puff pastry and of course it's no longer fully enclosed.  I could be wrong, but I believe that a quiche isn't supposed to be fully enclosed so that way may be a bit more true to quiche anyway.  But if you haven't learned yet, I kind of make things the way I like them.  And, well, I like dough.  PLEASE keep in mind that if you don't fully enclose it, you may need to change the cook times.  Just look for browning of the top and make sure it's cooked all the way through.


Don't be afraid to make any meat or cheese substitutions you'd like or any additions for that matter. I did this recipe based on what I had on hand.  Most quiche recipes have variations of juice, cream, herbs, and vegetables.  Mine is a very simple version so don't be afraid to add what you like.  If you use other liquids, be sure to research other recipes to give you an idea of how much to use.  Too much can cause your quiche to be a mushy mess and won't settle properly.  I've attached just such a recipe for your reference if needed.


If you notice I stole their picture.  :-)  For once, mine turned out very pretty, but that was before I was doing the blog and I never saw much point in documenting my food.  Looking back I totally should've because my food rocks!  But now I know.


Oh, and before I forget, this fed four adults and two children.


Original Recipe:  http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Bacon-Quiche-2


Happy Cooking!

Delicious Veggies!

So I was raised on makeshift southern cooking.  It was delicious but not the healthiest of food.  It seems as though I took most of my cooking cues from my mom, and bacon or butter is usually a part of dinner.  When it comes to vegetables, again, it had either butter or bacon.  Seriously, you had to have one or the other at the least.  I still do it to this day because, heck, it makes veggies delicious! But after having Hunter, I have to learn to cook a bit better till I lose some of this baby weight.  So here are a few things I've done...


~Frozen veggies:
The biggest thing is using frozen veggies.  Some people think that you lose nutrients in frozen and canned goods, but frozen may actually be better than fresh.  Veggies are frozen soon after being picked and the nutrients get locked in whereas the grocery store fresh produce sits out losing nutrients till they are consumed.  They may actually lose more than what is lost in the cooking process of frozen.


~Replace butter and bacon with some form of liquid and garlic/onion:
I've been trying low sodium soy sauce or balsamic vinegar.  Balsamic vinegar is a bit hard for me to stomach, but if I use just a bit, the cooking takes away some of that twang.  I also throw in some minced garlic or onion with either one.  With both of these, I've found no need for salt or pepper.


Soy Sauce is great with green beans, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and cauliflower.
Balsamic is great with carrots, corn, broccoli, and cauliflower.
You can probably interchange all of this, but this has been what I've worked with.


If you are concerned about the price of frozen, I've found that the store brand is on sale often and comparable to canned.


Squash, Zucchini, Carrots
Used fresh or frozen (if fresh, cut into spears)
No liquid!  Just toss with cooking spray and salt and pepper or favorite seasoning, blacken in a skillet and you have a crispy delicious veggie!  (Tony Chacharies (sp?) is great for this!)


Spinach
Yeah, I've got nothing here.  If it's fresh, I like it loaded with italian dressing and parmesean cheese, and if its cooked, i like it with garlic and bacon.  Or creamed with cream cheese and ranch, so I'm just kind of screwed there.

Smoked Sausage Rolls

Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage (or any of them, I just used this because I got a bunch recently on sale)

6 Slices Cheese (I used Velveeta brand)

Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry 

Melted Garlic Butter

Prep:

Set oven to 400

Slice sausage down the center, then cut 5 time to give you a total of 12 sausage chunks

Lay out puff pastry onto floured surface, roll out (very thin).  You will need 12 strips of dough, approximately 5"x 3".  

Slice cheese down the center

Wrap cheese around sausage, then wrap dough around sausage.  Make sure to close ends or the cheese will melt out and burn.  If your dough is a bit hard and won't stick to itself, just wet your fingers, then press the dough.  Also, make sure that when you finish rolling, you lay the roll on the pan with the extra flap of dough facing down.  Otherwise, when it bakes, it will puff up and separate from the roll.  Place the rolls on a sprayed cookie pan and brush with melted garlic butter.  Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is golden.  

Obviously, there are many options with this recipe.  There are a couple of things that could make this much easier and less time consuming.  

~First being using cresent roll dough.  You don't have to worry about flouring and rolling out dough.  I get that.  But my beef with that is you don't get full coverage with this kind of sausage, and I think puff pastry is considerably fuller and more flaky.  But if you like the cresent rolls, by all means, please use them.

~Second, you can use the smoked sausage franks.  

I don't because of price.  I don't find these on sale ever, so I just ignore the fact that they exist.  Plus, they don't scream healthy to me and if I could make these one at a time, I would without a doubt eat them much more often!  Anyway, if you notice this one has bacon and cheddar.  So in that respect, you may actually be able to save a bit by not using sliced cheese.  I personally like a good amount of cheese, but if you want to cut back a bit on the amount, here's a great option for you.  Also, if you use these with the cresent rolls, you don't have to worry about as much cheese burn when the roll doesn't fully enclose the sausage.

And in my opinion, the best option of all is selection!  There is such an enormous variety of sausage and cheese out there that you can make these spicy, by throwing in some pepperjack cheese, or really hot by using hot links (great for sports parties).  You have a variety of meat choices as well.  I used Turkey in my latest one because, well, that's what was on sale.  And for the most part, smoked sausage taste like smoked sausage.  Sorry to diss on turkey bacon, but it's terrible, but when it comes to smoked sausage, you don't lose that great juicy flavor.   They also have chicken and beef so experiment a bit!  I seriously don't think your family will notice a difference.  

If you or your family is like my husband and you aren't a fan of hot dogs or sausage, look at what your family does like and use it.  I've got an idea for maybe some roast beef and provalone or shredded chicken with taco seasoning in the future.  Is it as easy as making chicken tacos or a roast beef sandwich? No, obviously not.  But it does offer some variety.  Being on a very strict budget means eating at home much more often than not, and having a large variety of food makes up a bit for not being able to go out to dinner on a whim.  

Some other ideas for filling:

Tuna Fish Casserole (without the noodles or crackers)

White Chicken Chili (Check out recipe in another post)

Barbecue Chicken/Beef/Pork <<I love barbecue pizza so this sounds wonderful

Ham and Cheese

Steak-ums and Cheese

Hotdogs

Pizza Filling

Taco Meat

Pork Loin with Spinach

Pork Loin with Spinach

Hormel prepackaged pork loin (1-1 ½ lbs)

Spinach 8oz, thawed and drained (I just throw it into a bowl with water, then squeeze out the water before throwing it in the mixer)

Ranch seasoning packet

Cream cheese 8oz softened

Water 1 cup

Mix CC, Spinach, ½ ranch packet

Slice pork to make flat

Spread mix over pork leaving maybe a tbls or two of mix to the side

Roll loin and secure with toothpicks, place in slow cooker

(keep count of toothpicks, I missed two)

mix remaining mixture with about a cup of water and rest of ranch

pour over roast

pepper over roast to your liking if preferred

cook on low 7-8 hours

All of this is to your preferred liking.  I thought about adding some bacon but was too lazy.  Maybe I’ll do it in the future, though.  Add things you think you might like.  I’m thinking I might try this with some asparagus and garlic instead of spinach and ranch.  I also love the fiesta ranch and I’m trying to come up with an idea for that because I love the stuff.  Also, you can beef up the ranch content in the mix if you’d like.  Ranch can sometimes be overwhelming to me, so I didn’t want too much in the mixture. 

I also think this would be great with chicken!  A dish my hubby makes would also work wonderfully with this!  Basically, it’s chicken, cream of mushroom soup, spinach, bacon, and a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

The recipe that gave me the idea used goat cheese, dried tomatoes, spinach, and cream cheese.  That sounded way healthier than my version and if you know me, I don’t really do healthy all to well.  I love very robust flavors, and kind of don’t like dried tomatoes.

Awesome Taco Pie

This is probably a favorite of both Steve and I.  We eat it as is, in taco shells, tortillas, and tortilla chips.  I prefer to eat mine in a nacho type manner and Steve likes to crunch up tortilla chips and mix it all together.  Whatever the case, this is easy and delicious!

ground beef 1 pound

packet taco seasoning

couple of handfuls of shredded cheese (chedder, colby jack, mexican blend all work fine. I use what I have on hand)

picante sauce about 2 cups (I eye it so I'm really not sure.  I figure you can use as much as you'd like.)

eggs 2

milk 1 cup

bisquick 1/2 cup

  

         Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and brown; drain. Stir in seasoning mix. 

         In separate bowl, mix seasoning, beef, cheese, and picante sauce.  pour into cooking dish.

         In small bowl, stir eggs, milk and Bisquick mix until blended. Pour into pie plate.

         Bake about 25 minutes. Top with cheese, bake 2 to 3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. 

         Serve with lettuce, salsa, sour cream, cheese, taco sauce, heck, whatever you like with your tacos!

Here's the original recipe:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-taco-pie/a5c05838-da08-4347-b167-87a8cc4e3803

Their's is so much prettier than mine will ever be. :-)

Poaching Chicken (link)

Poaching Chicken directions:

http://www.chefdarin.com/2011/04/why-boiled-chicken-is-bad/

Making food easier and less time consuming

Prepare food ahead of time

Cook up ground beef and chicken ahead of time in mass quantities.  I would only do this for ground beef and shredding or chunking chicken.  Do it by the pound, that way its easier to separate.

  ~I buy the 5 pound loafs of beef, cook it all at once (with seasoning), then using measuring cups, separate it into 5 ziplock baggies, then stick it in the freezer.

  ~Same goes for the chicken.  Poach it, yes poach, don't boil (I'll attach a link for that), shred it, then separate and freeze.  You can bake, grill, or fry breast, then slice it and separate it, but I wouldn't suggest freezing a whole breast.  The reheating process would take too long to get to the center of the cut and it would ultimately leave you with very dry chicken breasts.

  ~Don't forget the seasoning with the cooking.  Once meat is cooked without the seasoning, you can't get that deep flavor.  I've made the mistake before and it really made a difference in the food.

GARLIC

If you like garlic with your food, buy the big tub of minced or chopped garlic!  It's cheaper than garlic cloves, lasts for a long time, and taste just a good as fresh garlic and is way better than the dried stuff!  Plus you will save time with not having to prep garlic.  I'll admit there are times when it doesn't fit what I'm doing.  Sometimes I like garlic slivers or you may want to roast some garlic for bread.  And I completely understand.  But for the most part, I've found that the pre-done stuff is wonderful.

Slow Cooker do aheads

So I'm all about preparing meals for the slow cooker ahead of time, then grabbing them when needed.  It's a great idea, but there are a few things I've learned with doing this.  Potatoes and carrots DO NOT freeze well.  I would almost teeter on them ruining the meal.  I'm not sure about celery though.  I don't use it because its a waste of money in my house.  My suggestion is to do the other stuff, then get the unfreezables fresh when you make the dish.  Carrots aren't such an issue if you buy the baby carrots in the bag, but I know potatoes can be time consuming.  My suggestion there is to buy the small red potatoes, just wash them and cut them up.  They are great with the skin!

Onions

If you know my taste in food, you know I don't like onions.  Well, I can't really say I don't like onions.  I actually happen to love the flavor of onions.  I just hate biting into them.  No clue where that came from, but it's possibly one the worst things in the world to me.  My solutions, mince them!  Yep, I mince onion for any dish I ever have to have it.  But that can be a frustrating process when I want a quick meal, so I mince up several onions at a time then freeze them.  This can actually be a fairly hefty process because it's really helpful to get a good portion of the water out before freezing.  It's no fun, but makes it worth while for me.  Now to finally get to my point.  You can do this with however you prefer your onions.  Slice, chop, or mince!  They really freeze great. Plus you only deal with tears once!

~On a side note, when chopping or mincing, it will be very beneficial to separate into servings.  when the onions freeze, they become a rock solid mass and it can really damage the flavor reheating the onion to get portions out over and over.  If you separate it ahead of time, you only have to use what you want without ruining the whole batch.  (I learned this from experience)  I'm still experimenting with ways to accomplish this and I've found that ice cube trays work best.  Once they (minced, not sure about chopped) freeze, I just throw them into a ziplock baggie and haven't had any issues with them getting mixed up.

Poaching Chicken directions:

http://www.chefdarin.com/2011/04/why-boiled-chicken-is-bad/