feeding jason

Recession Toffee

2009-05-13T07:39:00.000-05:00

My friend Alexandra is living in London right now while she's in school and I know that this blog post will be right up her alley. We're in a recession, right? So, what better way to celebrate than to make "candy" out of normal things like saltine crackers? Seriously, I saw this recipe online and thought I would barf in my mouth. Then I thought about it some more and realized it might not be so bad. The salty/sweet combination is great and these could not be easier. Please enjoy!

Recession (redneck) Toffee

Ingredients:
Saltine crackers -- you'll need enough to cover your cookie sheet, like 25-30
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray and line with crackers
3. In a saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar over low heat
4. Bring mixture to a boil for 3 minutes and immediately pour over crackers
5. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread chocolate chips so that they melt over the hot crackers. Then sprinkle with nuts
7. Cut and enjoy

My version of Insalata Florentine

2009-05-03T19:35:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago, Jason's step mom and her two crazy friends came to Nashville for a visit. Let me just say that these ladies meant business......drinking, shopping, drinking, eating, drinking, flirting with men half their age (not Jason's step mom of course, just her friends), oh and more drinking.

On their way up to Nashville, they needed to stop and get a drink....I mean some lunch. They stopped and Macaroni Grill, a place we haven't been in years. They brought back their leftovers for us and I sampled a wonderful chicken/pasta/salad dish. It was really an odd combination of flavors and textures. I easily found the recipe online. The tricky part was figuring out how to make this "Jason friendly."

I left out most of the good stuff like olives and capers and kept the dish pretty simple. It is really good though and pretty easy, so I think this one might be going in our summer rotation. See what you think and know that this is one of those dishes that you could add almost anything to and it would be delicious (i.e. roasted red peppers, olives, capers, nuts, shavings of Parmesan, etc).

Kyle's Insalata Florentine

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Orzo pasta, cooked according to package directions

1 roasted chicken from Krogers, cut up into chunks

1/2 bag of Italian Mix bag salad (this mix has mostly radicchio, romaine)

1/2 cup - 3/4 cup of vinaigrette dressing -- use whatever you have on hand. I used O'Charley's Balsamic Vinaigrette and it was awesome!!!

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Cook Orzo pasta (8-10 minutes in boiling water, stirring occasionally)

2. Cut up chicken into bite size pieces

3. Layer chicken and greens in a large bowl

4. Drain pasta and pour hot pasta over chicken and greens

5. Pour dressing over everything and toss well

6. Let chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. This is the type of dish though that tastes better the next day.

Did You Miss Us?

2009-05-03T19:29:00.003-05:00

Ok, I realize that it's been a while since I've had a post on here. Hear me out.....Jason had this awful new job where he worked the craziest hours every week. When he would get home at 11:30 p.m. each night, he wasn't very hungry. Let me rephrase that, he wasn't very hungry for anything other than sweets. So I had one of two choices: 1. Rename the blog "Eating with Kyle by himself on the sofa each night while watching Lifetime." (you get the idea). 2. Just hold off on the posts until Jason got a new job. Well, number 2 was the right answer and Jason begins his new job next week. So.....stay tuned for new updates from Feeding Jason. I can't promise that any of it will be any healthier, but that never stopped you before!!

My First Risotto

2008-12-20T07:40:00.006-06:00

We love to watch Food Network, Top Chef, and sometimes we even watch Hell's Kitchen. On every show, someone is always cooking risotto. I have had it in restaurants and love it, but for some reason it seems really intimidating to me. Well, those fears are gone now. Tonight, I cooked my first risotto. I never played football, but to me, this feels like I just threw my first touchdown. That didn't sound right coming from me, but you get the drift.

I will say, that this is a very time-consuming dish. The recipe and pretty much every TV chef says you have to constantly stir this or it will stick and burn. It was really creamy and delicious and you could add or subtract any of the flavors depending on what you like. Jason actually thought this was a bit too lemony. So, if you don't like lemon flavor, hold off on some of the lemon zest. I hope you try this....you would really impress someone if you took the time to make this!!!

Risotto:
3 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 pound Arborio rice

5 cups chicken stock

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt & Pepper

Lemon zest (from 1 whole lemon)

Lemon juice (from 1/2 a lemon)

Splash of white wine

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, warm the 5 cups of chicken stock.

2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat.

3. Saute onions and garlic.

4. Add rice to the butter, garlic, and onions and cook for 1-2 minutes to coat the rice.

5. Then start add 1/2 cup of the chicken stock to the rice, stirring constantly until absorbed.

6. Keep adding the stock 1/2 cup at a time....make sure it is completely absorbed before you add more. This is the time-consuming part.

7. Once all of the stock has been added, pour in the juice of 1/2 a lemon, salt, pepper, lemon zest and Parmesan cheese.

8. Hit with a splash of white wine and once that is absorbed, you're ready to serve.

Mom's Hamburger Casserole

2008-12-13T21:46:00.003-06:00

Growing up, my mom would cook dinner for us every night.....maybe that's where I get this from. Anyway, she never took the easy way out. I didn't have Hamburger Helper until I met Jason (very telling, isn't it?). Tonight, I pulled out a recipe that mom would make for us all the time. It sort of reminds me of Hamburger Helper, but way better. It definately brought back some good memories eating this tonight....enjoy my mom's Hamburger Casserole.

Hamburger Casserole:
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Salt & Pepper
1 small can corn
1 small can tomato sauce
2 cans of water (just use the tomato sauce can)
5 shakes of Worcester Sauce (I maybe used 10 shakes)
3/4 of a package of egg noodles (not sure why you don't use the entire bag, but just don't)
Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Brown ground beef and onion in a large oven-safe skillet.
2. Add garlic and salt/pepper.
3. In another pot, cook the egg noodles according to package directions (about 8 minutes).
4. Once ground beef is cooked, add corn, tomato sauce, Worcester sauce.
5. Add cooked egg noodles to meat mixture.
6. Top with cheddar cheese and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Here's what the finished product looks like.....way better than anything from a box, and it's really easy. The Worcester is the secret to making this so good....that and all the cheese on top.

Homemade Granola

2008-12-12T16:22:00.001-06:00

I love granola. I saw Barefoot Contessa make granola that she packaged and gave to her neighbors as holiday gifts (I Tivo all of her episodes). This could not be easier. I'm going to give you the recipe with the ingredients that she used, but you could add anything you want really. It would be a nice gift for co-workers....who knows, maybe I'll bring some.

Homemade Granola:
4 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups dried cherries (if the dried cherries are big, just chop them up a little)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:
1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Add the oil & honey....if you put the oil in the measuring cup before the honey, the honey will slide ride out.
3. Mix well and bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
4. Stir the mixture about halfway through to make sure it all gets browned.
5. Let cool and enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi

2008-12-11T21:24:00.001-06:00

After tonight, I realized that we didn't have to go to Red Lobster for good shrimp scampi. This is one of those dishes that just seems really intimidating. It's so easy though!!! Like many of my other recipes, I got this one from the Barefoot Contessa. She recommends buying your shrimp fresh, not frozen if possible. I bought mine from the seafood counter at Publix....that as fresh as I can get, right?

In case you've never had shrimp scampi, it's a wonderful baked shrimp dish. The shrimp is swimming in butter, wine, and lemon juice and it's so good. If this is your first time making it or eating it, don't freak out over all the butter - it's supposed to be like that.

Shrimp Scampi:
1 lb shrimp with the tail on (I bought 26/30 shrimp)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
Salt & Pepper
1 1/2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 shallots, minced
1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs) -- I forgot to buy these, so I used regular bread crumbs and they turned out fine.

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place shrimp in a bowl and toss with olive oil, white wine, and salt & pepper.
3. In another bowl, combine the softened butter, garlic, shallots, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt & pepper, bread crumbs, and the egg yolk.....mix well.
4. Line your shrimp around the edge of an oval baking dish with the tail up. I used a glass pie plate and it was perfect.
5. Once all of the shrimp are in the dish, pour the remaining wine/olive oil marinade back over the shrimp.
6. Spread the butter mixture all over the shrimp (see the first picture below, this isn't pretty).
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until hot and bubbly.

This is what it looks like before it goes into the oven. It looks like shrimp covered in bread crumbs and butter. Well, essentially that's what it is, but it will look and taste much better after it comes out of the oven.

Here's the final product. I served it over rice, but pasta would also be nice. For the rice, I cooked minute rice in chicken broth (instead of water). Once I took the rice off the heat, I stirred in garlic and 2 Tablespoons of lemon zest (I had some left over from the zest for the shrimp). This rice would be good with anything, but it really brought out the lemony taste in the scampi.

Cornish Hens

2008-12-10T21:24:00.003-06:00

I don't cook Cornish Hens very often. They're not hard to cook but they are a little messy to eat. I decided to try them again this week (and since Publix had them on sale). Of course, you can use any good chicken recipe on these and they will turn out fine. Tonight, I decided to use shallots, butter, and orange to flavor these hens and they turned out great.

Here's what they looked like before they went into the oven......poor things.

This is what they looked like on the plate.....looks delicious right? (unless you don't eat meat)

Easy Orange Cornish Hens:
2 Cornish Hens

1 orange -- you'll need the zest and the juice

2 shallots, chopped

3/4 stick of butter

Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Allow butter to soften to room temperature.

2. Mix butter, chopped shallots, and orange zest.

3. Rub butter mixture under the skin of the hens, all over the outside and inside the cavity.

4. Squeeze orange juice over the hens and season with salt & pepper.

5. Cook on a baking sheet for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees.....until the juices run clear.

Sharla's World Famous Pork & Taters

2008-12-09T18:51:00.003-06:00

Pork & Taters....this is our friend Sharla's best recipe. Her family is from Alabama like us, and our people love called potatoes "taters." This recipe is super simple and can be cooked in the oven or in a crock pot. All you need is pork, taters, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. The pork is tender and delicious. The potatoes are flavored from the soup and the pork chop drippings that run down on them. Sounds yummy, right?

Sharla's Pork & Taters:
2-4 bone-in pork chops
1 can cream of mushroom soup
4-6 potatoes, sliced thin
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Slice potatoes very thin and place in the bottom of your crock pot or casserole dish.
2. Pour cream of mushroom soup over potatoes.
3. Place pork chops on top of soup and season with salt & pepper.
4. If using a crock pot, cook on low for 6-8 hours. If using the oven, cook at 350 degrees until the pork chops and potatoes are done (anywhere between 45 minutes - 1 hour, depending on the thickness of the pork chops).

Happy Holidays

2008-12-08T19:37:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays from the folks at "Feeding Jason." Jason has been in the kitchen recently getting ready for the holidays. Jason doesn't cook that much, but he loves baking sweet treats. He has a huge glass jar full of cookie cutters and this time each year he breaks them out to make cookies. Below is a picture showing off some of his work. If you would like Jason to decorate some cookies for you, please let us know. These cookies are from a roll of Pilsbury sugar cookies....delicious and festive!!!

Jason Goes to Africa

2008-12-07T12:38:00.001-06:00

Tonight, I decided to bring it. I found this recipe from an African cookbook at the library and I told Jason to call me Simba (ok, not really). Basically, this recipe is a stew that you serve over couscous. It's pretty easy, but you have to let it simmer for close to 2 hours. It was pretty spicy but the flavors were great and I think I will make this again soon.

Go ahead and break out all of your spices, because this one calls for several of them. If you don't have a bottle of Garam Masala, you should pick some up in the spice section. It's a blend of several spices that is used in Indian, African, and Middle Eastern cooking.

Couscous de Timbuktu:

4 llbs stewing beef cut into 2 inch chunks (you can find this already cut up in your grocery store)

Salt & Pepper

1/3 cup oil

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 Tablespoons garam masala

1-2 Tablespoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

3 medium onions, diced

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup pitted dates, pureed in a food processor

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot and brown meat. Season with salt & pepper.

2. Add cumin, fennel seeds, garam masala, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

3. Add tomatoes and water.

4. Bring to a boil.

5. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.

6. Add onions, cinnamon and dates.

7. Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.

8. In a separate pot, make 1 box (or 1 cup) or couscous according to package directions.

9. Serve stew over couscous.

Cookies & Cream Fudge

2008-12-06T21:19:00.002-06:00

Jason actually made this.....it's not your traditional fudge, but if you're a fan of cookies & cream ice cream, then you will love this. It looks really pretty and it is really easy to make. I thought it was just ok...I prefer traditional chocolate fudge. This would be a nice gift for neighbors or co-workers though.

Cookies & Cream Fudge:
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
1/2 cup finely crushed Oreo cookies
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup crumbled Oreo cookies (crumble these in big pieces for the top of the fudge)

Directions:
1. Combine sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
3. Boil for 3 minutes then remove from heat.
4. Stir in white chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, finely crushed Oreo cookies & vanilla extract.
5. Pour into a greased pan (we lined our pan with foil).
6. Sprinkle crumbled Oreo cookies on top.
7. Refrigerate for 1 hour and cut into pieces.

Thai Chicken & Rice

2008-12-05T23:18:00.004-06:00

We love Thai food and this is one of my easiest Thai dishes. It isn't authentic.....I mean, you won't find this in any Thai restaurant (at least not a reputable one). It's my version of Thai Chicken & Rice. This is really better if you let it sit in the fridge so that the flavors can meld together. I try to make this the day before we eat it or at least the morning of.

At the bottom of this post, I have pictures of the Thai products I find at my grocery store. If you've never tried Thai food before, this is a nice introduction. You will get a real feel for the flavors of Thai food without it being too spicy or weird.

Thai Chicken & Rice:
1 lb chicken tenderloins, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cans lite coconut milk
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1-2 Tablespoons red curry paste (depending on how hot you like things)
1 box coconut rice
***If you have veggies and you want to add them, do it. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. Tonight, I didn't really have anything in the fridge, however onions, carrots, zucchini, or peppers are all great additions to this dish.

Directions:
1. Pour olive oil in a skillet and let it get hot.
2. Add curry paste and cook until you can smell the paste. This sounds weird but is actually says to do this on the bottle. It will smell spicy and good.
3. Add one can of coconut milk and cook over low heat until the curry paste has dissolved into the milk. Do not let milk come to a boil.
4. Add chicken to the milk mixture and add until done.
5. In another pot, bring 1 can of coconut milk to a boil.
6. Add contents of rice box, stir and remove from heat.
7. Once the rice has cooled and the chicken/curry mixture has cooled, combine the two in your skillet and place in the fridge.
8. When you are ready to serve, simply stick in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

I use Thai Kitchen brand coconut rice and red curry paste.....here's a picture of what they look like. If you can't find this exact brand, use whatever you can find.

Deep Dish Pizza

2008-12-02T22:34:00.003-06:00

Tonight I made a really quick and easy deep dish pizza. Usually, we order thin crust pizza. This crust turned out pretty thin, so we really it. You can flavor this however you want. I just happened to have ground beef on hand, so I used that. You could really do anything though.

I also used spices that I like (fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, Greek seasoning - which I put on just about everything), but feel free to use spices that you like or just whatever you have on hand. This is a good recipe to know though, because it took less than 10 minutes to assemble and it cooks in 13 minutes -- much faster than delivery, and it was really, really good!!!

Deep Dish Pizza:
1 lb ground beef
3 green onions, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 jar pizza sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cook beef with seasonings in a skillet until browned.
3. Unroll pizza dough, press into bottom and up the sides of a greased 13x9 casserole dish.
4. Pour pizza sauce on the dough.
5. Spoon meat mixture over sauce.
6. Top with chopped green onions and then top with cheese.
7. Bake for 13 minutes.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Taco Soup

2008-12-01T20:13:00.001-06:00

The picture didn't turn out so great, but the soup was great. This soup is REALLY easy. If you can chop and onion and open a few cans, then you can make this soup.

Taco Soup:
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 large cans tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn
1 (15 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning
1 handful of cilantro (optional)
1 lime (optional)
5-6 Jalapeno pepper rings, diced (optional)

Directions:
1. In your soup pot, brown ground beef green pepper and onions.
2. Add tomato sauce, corn, tomatoes, and taco seasoning.
3. Cook over medium heat until the soup is warmed.
4. Add Jalapenos, cilantro and squeeze in lime juice.
5. Top each bowl with cheddar cheese, sour cream or sliced green onions. Serve with Fritos or tortilla chips.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

2008-11-30T20:26:00.003-06:00

These cookies literally only take 5 minutes to assemble and only 12 minutes to bake. They are really easy and good, so you should make them tonight.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg (lightly beaten)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix sugar, egg, peanut butter, baking soda, and salt.
3. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Roll the dough into balls, about 1 inch in diameter.
5. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Depending on the size of your balls, this recipe makes between 10 - 12 cookies.

I'm Pretty Good, Huh?

2008-11-29T08:02:00.004-06:00

This morning I woke up early and surprised Jason by making homemade cinnamon rolls. At Jason's old job, they had a cafeteria for the employees. Everyone morning this old woman would get up at the crack of dawn and make cinnamon rolls by hand. She rolled out the dough with her knuckles and made icing from her tears. Ok, ok, I'm kidding about that part. They were probably frozen and the old lady just warmed them up.

I found this recipe to make cinnamon rolls using frozen bread dough. Surprisingly enough, my Kroger had frozen bread dough. The package comes with four long oval pieces of bread dough. You have to let it thaw pretty much overnight. The dough didn't roll out very easily. It kept springing back together, but they tasted good and I was able to make a roll out of them, so I don't guess it matters too much.

(Stacy -- Before you get started, realize that these have to rise for 1 1/2 hours before you can bake them. I don't want another banana pudding episode!)

Since I have 3 more loaves of frozen bread dough in the freezer, I'll probably be making these again.

Easy Cinnamon Rolls:
1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used pecans)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1 Tablespoon milk
Dash of vanilla extract
Dash of Jack Daniels (this is totally optional...just my way of saying "Good Morning")

Directions:
1. Roll out thawed dough into a rectangle shape (about 18x6 if you can).
2. Brush with melted butter.
3. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped nuts and sprinkle over dough.
4. Starting at the long edge, carefully roll up the dough into a jelly roll shape.
5. Moisten the edges and seal with melted butter.
6. Cut the roll into 20 slices (somehow I only got 14....I guess I slice big).
7. Place rolls into a lightly greased casserole dish or greased cake pans.
8. Leave the rolls on the counter and let rise for about 1 1/2 hours, or until they have doubled in size.
9. Pour the cream over the rolls and bake at 350 degrees fro 25 minutes.
10. To make the icing, combine confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla, and Jack Daniels. If you like your icing thick, add a little more sugar. If you like it thin, add a little more milk (or Jack).
11. Drizzle icing over rolls while they are still warm.

This picture sucks, but this is what they look like before they are cooked. Sad huh?

This is what they look like after the have cooked. Delicious, yes?

Drop Cookies

2008-11-28T20:24:00.004-06:00

Today I made some of Jason's favorite cookies....drop cookies. You've all probably had these before, but have you ever made them? There is no baking involved. You just heat everything up in a pot and drop on wax paper to cool. They are really good so if you have oats on hand (and who doesn't? kidding) then you should make these cookies this weekend.

Drop Cookies:
1/2 cup milk
3 Tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
3 cups oats
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Bring butter, cocoa, sugar, and milk to a boil, stirring constantly.
2. Boil for 3 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla.
4. With a spoon, drop cookies onto wax paper or a Silpat.
5. Let cool completely (they cool pretty quickly though).

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T10:48:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today, we spent Thanksgiving with our dear friends Ashley & Julia. I had to bring the mashed potatoes. This week on Food Network, they've been playing show after show on how to cook Thanksgiving dishes. I saw Ina Garten make these buttermilk mashed potatoes and I knew that's what I wanted to make. Jason really liked them, so I will probably make them again for us (just not so many). The buttermilk gives the potatoes a great flavor....it almost tastes like you've added sour cream.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes:
1 - 3lb bag of Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup milk
1 stick butter
1 cup buttermilk
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Peel the potatoes and cut into small pieces.
2. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 10-15 minutes or until done.
3. In a sauce pot, warm butter and milk.
4. Drain potatoes and return to the same pot you cooked them in.
5. Add butter/milk mixture to potatoes and mash.
6. Once potatoes are mashed, add buttermilk, salt and pepper.

Country Rice & Sausage

2008-11-26T20:56:00.003-06:00

Well, it's the night before Thanksgiving, so I wanted to cook something "light" for dinner. Ha! I found this recipe the other day in a cookbook at the library. One great thing about working in the library is that we have hundreds of cookbooks. If I ever get a free moment, I'll grab a cookbook off the shelf and just thumb through until something interesting pops out at me. Well this one jumped off the page. Jason loved this dish. He said it reminded him of "dirty rice" but since I used sausage, it would be more like a "poor, white trash, dirty rice." Thanks Jason.

White trash or not, this was really good. Be careful with the red pepper flakes if you don't like things spicy!!

Country Rice & Sausage:
2 cups cooked rice
1 (16 oz) package of pork sausage (I used Bob Evans)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
1 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4-5 fresh sage leaves (or 1/4 teaspoon of dried sage)
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Cook rice according to package directions.
2. Cook sausage until brown and crumbled.
3. Remove sausage from pan and drain on paper towels.
4. Add celery, onion, carrots, red pepper and salt & pepper to pan and brown.
5. Add water to veggie mixture.
6. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes.
7. Return cooked sausage to pan and stir in cooked rice.
8. Check seasoning and add more salt & pepper if needed.

Stuff It!

2008-11-25T20:26:00.004-06:00

Tonight, I made a chicken recipe that Jason actually gave me. He used to make this chicken all the time once he graduated from college. I'll give it to him....it's really good and pretty easy. It's too cold outside to grill, so I cooked this chicken in my iron skillet. It turned out great, but it's still a little better on the grill.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts -- flattened out

4 slices bacon

4 slices white cheddar or any white cheese that you enjoy

12 jalapeno pepper rings, chopped

Salt & Pepper

Butter

Directions:

1. Place chicken breasts in a large ziploc bag and beat with a rolling pin until flattened.

2. Place chopped peppers and cheese inside each chicken breast.

3. Roll each chicken breast up and surround with a piece of bacon.

4. Secure each chicken breast with one or two toothpicks.

5. Season with salt & pepper.

6. Grill or cook in an iron skillet for about 20-25 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear.

Mac & Cheese

2008-11-24T20:23:00.004-06:00

Macaroni and Cheese.....we all love it. There is a restaurant here in Nashville called "Park Cafe," which makes some of the best Mac & Cheese in the world. It's full of green chile peppers, which adds just enough heat to make it interesting. A friend of mine snagged the recipe so here it is. I will warn you that there are quite a few steps involved here, but any homemade Mac & Cheese will be this involved, so just do it. I'm sure this won't shock anyone, but Jason loves this.....cheese, pasta, bread crumbs, no veggies, it's his kind of dish.

Be warned that you will gain at least 3 pounds by eating this.....and it's so good that you'll probably have seconds, so make that 6 pounds.

Park Cafe Green Chile Mac & Cheese:
2 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded
2 cups macaroni
1 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 Anaheim Green Chiles, seeds removed, chopped, and roasted in the oven
2 cups parmesean cheese
2 Tablespoon bread crumbs
1 cup melted butter

Directions:
1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain.
2. In a pan, melt butter and slowly add flour, whisking constantly.
3. Cook for 5 minutes over low heat.
4. Add milk, cream, and green chiles to flour mixture.
5. Turn up to medium heat and bring to a boil.
6. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheeses and cooked macaroni.
7. Pour into a greased baking dish or into individual ramekins.
8. Combine bread crumbs and melted butter and pour over mixture.
9. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is bubbling and top is golden brown -- for ramekins this will take 10-15 minutes, for a large baking dish, try 25-30 minutes.

Meemaw E's Ham

2008-11-23T17:52:00.003-06:00

The holidays are here!! Jason decided to decorate the house (and himself) today. I decided to really get festive and bake a ham. Every year since I can remember my Meemaw E would bake a ham for Christmas. Her recipe is really easy and I swear this is the best ham you will ever put in your mouth.

I always buy a bone-in ham, because it has more flavor. I try to find a smoked ham. These hams are technically already "cooked," but we're heating it up and adding great flavor.

Meemaw E's Ham:
1 bone-in smoked ham

1 cup of brown sugar (maybe a little depending on how big the ham is)

1 can or bottle of Coca-Cola (not diet, not pepsi, not some off brand, get the real thing)

Black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. I cook this in the crockpot, but you can also cook this ham in a 300 degree oven.

2. Score the ham with a sharp knife.

3. Rub entire ham with brown sugar.

4. Pour coke over entire ham and sprinkle with black pepper.

5. Cook the ham for about 4 hours, basting every 30 minutes.

Game Night

2008-11-22T20:45:00.000-06:00

Tonight, we had some friends over and we just wanted to have appetizers. You know, easy finger foods that weren't too messy. Most of the food we had just came from the supermarket, but I did make some spiced pecans. They didn't turn out so great at first, but after baking them for a few minutes, they were perfect!

Spiced Pecans:
4 cups pecan halves
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Combine sugar, water, and spices in a saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
3. Add pecans and vanilla extract.
4. Cook until syrup is absorbed and pecans are cooked, stirring constantly. (this takes a while)
5. Spread pecans on a greased baking sheet.
6. Add baking sheet into the oven at 350 degrees until the syrup has cooked away (20-30 min)

Oven Fries

2008-11-21T18:01:00.002-06:00

It's been a long week for the both of us. So tonight was a "sandwich" night, but I wanted to try to do at least one thing special. I had two baking potatoes in the pantry, so I decided to make some easy oven fries.

These fries are quick and easy and you can flavor them 10,000 different ways. I like them a little spicy.

Oven Fries:
2 large baking potatoes, cut into wedges
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Fennel seeds
Red pepper flakes

Directions:
1. Cut each potato in half, so that you have two humps.
2. Cut each hump into quarters, so that you have 8 wedges.
3. Coat all of the wedges with olive oil and then add spices.
4. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees.
5. These takes about 30 minutes, just keep checking on them and flip them at least once.

Tostadas

2008-11-20T23:57:00.003-06:00

A few years ago, we found a recipe for tostadas. I'm not sure how traditional this recipe is, but we love it regardless. It's very simple. The hardest part is frying the tortillas. I usually leave this job for Jason. We've tried toasting the tortillas in the oven, but they just aren't nearly as good as they are when you fry them until golden brown, which only takes about 30 seconds.

When the tortillas are fried, they puff up and become crispy and golden brown. Fry up about two tortillas per person. We use the small size. Let them dry on a paper towl and cool for a minute before you start adding your toppings.

We make a simple bean dip and use as the base of our tostadas. The bean dip is really good on it's own, all you need is salsa, refried beans, and a little shredded cheddar cheese. The recipe is down below. Once you've added your toppings, throw the tostadas under the broiler just long enough for the cheese to melt. This dinner is really quick and easy and you'll love how good these are!!!

Tostadas:

1 package small tortillas

1 package shredded cheddar cheese

1 can refried beans

1 jar salsa

The other toppings are up to you......we used the following:

1 tomato, diced

Shredded lettuce

Sour Cream
Guacamole

Directions:
1. Heat about 2 cups of oil in a frying pan.

2. Add tortillas one at a time and fry until golden brown then flip and fry the other side.

3. Place tortillas on paper towels to drain.

4. For the bean dip, mix salsa, refried beans, and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese.

5. Place bean dip in the microwave for 1 minute and stir, continue process until hot.

6. Spread bean dip on each tostada.

7. Build other toppings and place under broiler for 2-3 minutes until cheese has melted.

What's that brown stuff on your plate?

2008-11-19T20:50:00.003-06:00

Is that some sort of chutney? No. Did you burn something? No. Is that even food? Yes.
Well, it's not the prettiest dish I've ever made, but it tasted great. Yesterday, I decided that I wanted to make a German potato salad, or something like that. I didn't want anything cold with mayonnaise, I wanted something warm with that vinegar taste all through it.

I was fumbling through recipes until I realized that the only vinegar I had in the house was balsamic vinegar. I just happened to find a warm potato salad recipe using balsamic, so that's what I made. If you've never used balsamic vinegar, it's very dark, almost black, and the color takes over just about everything in the dish. It was good though. The recipe has sauteed shallots, celery and lots of bacon crumbles. I would totally make this again, but I might think about using a different type of vinegar next time (maybe apple cider vinegar). If you feel like you can take the looks of this dish, then you should try it. It really did taste great!!

Balsamic Potato Salad:
8 slices bacon
3 tablespoons flour
1 shallot, chopped
1/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon powdered dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon crumbled whole rosemary leaves
2 quarts cooked diced potatoes (I used 8 small yukon gold potatoes)

Directions:
1. Dice potatoes and boil in salted water until done.
2. Fry bacon until crisp.
3. Remove from pan, drain and crumble.
4. Add flour and onion to the bacon fat left in the pan.
5. Stir in vinegar, water, sugar, salt and spices.
6. Cook only until mixture is of medium thickness (only about 5 minutes or so).
7. Add to potatoes and crumbled bacon.
8. Mix carefully to prevent mashing the potatoes.

Cookie Drama

2008-11-18T08:22:00.003-06:00

Tonight, I wanted something chocolatey. I found this recipe for espresso chocolate cookies a few weeks back. I get out all the ingredients, start putting everything together and then I realize that the recipe says to chill the dough for at least 2 hours (or overnight). So, I got up this morning and baked these cookies while I was making my morning coffee.

So, before you get started with this, realize that some "chill time" has to happen before you can bake these cookies. If you like coffee and chocolate, then these cookies are for you. Jason ate two right off the cooling rack on his way to work and he said they were awesome. He's a sucker for anything coated in powdered sugar!

Espresso Crinkles:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate - (I just semi-sweet chocolate chips that I had...worked out fine)
1 teaspoon instant espresso granules
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg whites

Directions:
1. Place flour, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix.
2. In a saucepan, combine chocolate and canola oil over low heat until melted.
3. Add espresso granules to the pan and mix.
4. Let chocolate completely cool (5 minutes)
5. In another bowl, mix together egg whites, brown sugar, vanilla and corn syrup.
6. Add melted chocolate to the egg mixture and mix well.
7. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time and mix until well incorporated.
8. COVER DOUGH AND CHILL FOR AT LEAST 2 HOURS!!
9. When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
10. Roll dough into small, 1-inch balls and roll around in powdered sugar
11. Bake for 10 minutes.

The recipe says that it can yield 2 dozen, but somehow I only got 18 cookies out of this. Maybe my balls were too big? :)

Here is the finished product, and I must say that they look exactly like they did in the magazine. I was very impressed. I like the way these cookies crack and all that powdered sugar just makes them look homemade, don't you think?

My First Encounter with Red Currant Jelly

2008-11-17T20:55:00.001-06:00

Today was a good day. Jason was finally feeling better and I felt like cooking something new and exciting for dinner. I had a pork tenderloin that I wanted to cook but I didn't know what to do. I found this recipe for a marinade....actually, it's a reduction sauce, but I used it as a marinade. It was so good and pretty easy. It made the entire house smell good and I think I'll try it again on beef or maybe even chicken.

The recipe called for red currant jelly. I've seen this in the grocery store before, but it was always one of those jellies that had dust on the top of it, so you knew it wasn't something popular. The jelly by itself is tart and not very sweet at all. I wouldn't want any on toast, but in a marinade it was perfect!!

Red Currant Marinade:
1 shallot, finely diced
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 red currant jelly
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Add butter to a saucepan and cook shallots until tender.
2. Stir in chicken broth, jelly, vinegar, thyme, and rosemary then bring to a boil.
3. Cook mixture until it has reduced to 1 1/2 cups (cook about 17 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt.

I cut holes in the pork tenderloin and poured the marinade all over it. Because I had time, I let this marinate for about 5 hours. I poured the meat and all the marinade into a baking dish and cooked at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. It was pretty awesome!

A Manly Cheeseball

2008-11-16T18:48:00.004-06:00

Is there such a thing as a manly cheeseball? If so, this might be it. You use dried beef and green onions, and the taste is amazing. Normally, we use Ritz or some type of club cracker. Today, we happened to have Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuits. They are really good with this cheeseball, so I would recommend these. Because of the colors (green onions and the dried beef is red), this ball would be perfect for holiday parties!

Dried Beef, Green Onion Cheeseball:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

4 green onions, chopped

1 jar dried beef

Directions:
1. Chop up onions and dried beef into tiny pieces

2. Use your hand and mix all ingredients together until well incorporated

3. Roll into a ball and enjoy

Chai Spice Mulled Wine

2008-11-15T21:07:00.002-06:00

Jason is still recovering from his virus, so I decided to make mulled wine. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing medicinal about mulled wine...this is for me (Jason isn't the best patient). Plus, it's a cold, wet, crappy day today and I wanted a warm beverage but I had already had two cups of coffee earlier in the morning. I decided that this easy recipe was the best way to spend the afternoon!

Chai Spice Mulled Wine:
2 lemons, sliced and seeds removed
2 oranges, sliced and seeds removed (I used tangerines)
1 bottle of Merlot
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 chai tea bags

Directions:
1. Place sliced fruit, sugar, wine, and water in a large saucepan.
2. Place on medium heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved and mixture is hot. Do not bring to a boil or you will cook out all of the alcohol.
3. Remove from heat and add tea bags.
4. Let steep 10 minutes.
5. Remove teabags and discard.
6. Ladle hot punch into mugs to serve.

Chicken & Dressing Casserole

2008-11-14T23:30:00.006-06:00

Tonight, I felt like making comfort food (I know, I know, most of our meals are comfort food). Jason is sick, so I wanted to make something special....not just chicken noodle soup, yuck! I found this recipe a few years back and decided it was time to break it out again. This chicken and dressing casserole has a few steps to it, but if you stay organized, it really isn't so bad. Once you taste it, I think you'll realize that it's worth the trouble.

Chicken & Dressing Casserole:
2 lbs of chicken -- I used boneless, skinless, chicken breasts that I cut into chunks
1/2 cup mayo
1 small onion, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
4 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 package Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix (I used the herb flavor)
1 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 mixing bowls (trust me)

Directions:
1. Boil chicken in salted water until fully cooked
2. Combine cooled chicken, mayo, chopped onion and set aside
3. Combine 2 eggs, melted butter, chicken broth and stuffing and set aside
4. In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs and add milk
5. Spray large casserole dish with cooking spray
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
7. In bottom of dish, spread half of the stuffing mixture
8. Add all of the chicken mixture
9. Add remaining stuffing over the top of the chicken
10. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the top of the stuffing
11. Pour one can of cream of chicken soup over the whole thing (this will look gross)
12. Bake for 45 minutes

Here is a picture of your mixing bowls. You'll have one for the stuffing mixture (your biggest one), one for the chicken mixture, and one bowl for the egg and milk mixture.

Here what the dish looks like before you stick it in the oven. Not to pretty, huh? It actually looks gross with all of that cream of chicken soup on top, but the finished product is wonderful!

Here the finished product.....ok, maybe it doesn't look that much better. The soup on top sort of forms a gravy. That plus the eggs and milk that you poured over this help keep this from drying out. Every bite is moist and delicious.

I served this with green beans and the leftover pretzel salad from the night before (see yesterday's post). This really made me ready for Thanksgiving!!

Kyle + Jason = Two Old Ladies

2008-11-13T19:45:00.003-06:00

Let me start off by saying that I hate Jell-O. I hate it with a passion. However, I do like a good gelatin salad every now and then. I decided to make "Pretzel Salad" tonight, although I wish this had a different name, I hate calling this a salad....it just doesn't seem right.

If you didn't grow up in the south or if you're under 80, then you might not have ever eaten this dish....let me tell you about it. Pretzel salad includes pretzels, strawberries, cream cheese, lots of sugar and butter. It all just comes together in a perfect way. Each bite is delicious!! I love the combination of salty and sweet. So does Jason, he had three helpings of this after dinner tonight.

Pretzel Salad:
2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1 small container whipped topping
1 cup sugar
2 cups boiling water
1 (6 oz) box strawberry flavored gelatin -- the big box
1 (10 oz) box frozen strawberries -- if you buy frozen whole strawberries, then slice them

Directions:
1st Layer
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mix the pretzels, melted butter, and 3 Tablespoons sugar in a bowl
3. Place mixture into a 9x13 pan and bake for 8 minutes
4. Let cool

2nd Layer
1. Mix 1 cup sugar, whipped topping, and cream cheese
2. Spread over cooled pretzel mixture

3rd Layer
1. Mix gelatin, strawberries and boiling water in a bowl
2. Let sit for 10 minutes
3. Pour over cream cheese mixture
4. Chill thoroughly before serving

Curry Rice Salad

2008-11-11T22:15:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I made a delicious dish that my Aunt Bettie makes. It's a cold curry rice salad and it's wonderful. I served it with baked barbecue chicken. There's something about warm chicken and a cold rice dish that just works. I love this recipe and I love my Aunt Bettie. When reading the ingredients, you'll note a few that I left out, for various reasons. I will say that green olives would be good in this dish, if you like them. I think I'll chop them up and add them to this the next time I make it and just see if Jason even notices.....probably not.

Curry Rice Salad:

1 box Chicken Rice-A-Roni

4 green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 cup mayo

1 jar artichokes, chopped (keep some of the liquid from the jar)

***Now, the recipe actually calls for the following, which I didn't add:

1/2 green pepper, chopped (I thought I had one in the fridge, but I didn't....oh well)

12 stuffed green olives, chopped (Jason doesn't like green olives)

1 can water chestnuts, sliced (Kyle doesn't like water chestnuts)

Directions:

1. Make Rice-A-Roni according to package directions and let cool completely (I used the microwave)

2. Add remaining ingredients (including just a little of the juice from the artichoke jar)

3. Let sit in the fridge for a while before serving, the flavors are much better when they've had time to get acquainted

Oh Snap!

2008-11-10T19:32:00.002-06:00

Tonight we ate pizza.....boring. So, I wanted to share our current obsession. Nyakers Pepparkakor -- they are Swedish ginger snaps and they are awesome. We found them at World Market, but you might be able to find them at other places. It's $9 for a tin of these cookies, but you get like 1000 cookies. Ok, not 1000, but you get a lot. Plus, you get a lovely tin as a keepsake....who doesn't need more tins?

They're thin and crispy and a little peppery. They are great with coffee or tea or the perfect snack to eat in bed while watching the Golden Girls reruns. Seriously though, these would make a wonderful gift for someone with a sweet tooth. Here is the link to World Market where you can order these awesome cookies. Enjoy!

Taco Salad

2008-11-09T22:30:00.002-06:00

Tonight was the end of a long weekend and we were both pooped. Taco salad was the only answer. There are a million different ways to do this and the toppings are endless. Here's our version, which is very little salad and lots of meat and cheese.

Taco Salad:

16 oz Velveeta

1 - 4 oz can of diced green chiles

1 can of Rotel

1 package of sausage (we used Jimmy Dean Mild)

1 lb ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

Lettuce

Tortilla Chips

Toppings:
Chopped green onions

Sour cream

Chopped tomatoes

Taco Sauce
Guacamole

Directions:

1. Brown sausage in a pot and crumble

2. Drain grease

3. Chop Velveeta and add to sausage

4. Add Rotel and stir over low heat until all melted

5. In a skillet, brown ground beef

6. Add taco seasoning

7. Assemble salad by layering chips, lettuce, meat, cheese dip, and then toppings.

Happy Birthday Kyle

2008-11-08T08:24:00.005-06:00

Well, today is my birthday and I'm STILL feeding Jason.....what's wrong with this picture, shouldn't he be cooking for me today? Just kidding, we're going out to dinner tonight, so all is well. I found this recipe the other day and couldn't wait to try it, so this is sort of like my birthday cake.

This recipe is for Oatmeal Cake....something I've never heard of. It's really good. You can justify all the sugar in this cake by thinking about all the oats...it totally balances out.

Oatmeal Cake:
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 stick butter
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

*** The recipe doesn't call for this, but I added the following:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

For the Icing:
1/2 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporate milk
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Mix boiling water, oats, and butter & let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Add oatmeal mixture to the bowl and mix well.
4. Bake in an 8 x 11 casserole dish at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
5. For icing, melt ingredients (except powdered sugar) together in saucepan and cool.
6. Add powered sugar until thick enough to pour over cake. (just eyeball it -- about 1/2 cup).
7. Poke holes in the hot cake with a toothpick and pour icing over cake while still hot!

Here's what it looks like before you stick in the oven.

Here's what we've got when it comes out of the oven.

Then you pour your icing on top and it looks like this....

Give Brussel Sprouts a Chance......Please?

2008-11-07T18:52:00.003-06:00

My mom never made brussel sprouts, but for some reason I thought I hated them like every other kid I knew. It wasn't until a few years ago that I even tasted a brussel sprout. We were in Ashveille, NC for Thanksgiving and I ordered a duck breast that was served with roasted brussel sprouts. I was super-excited to try them, but I'm so glad that I did. Brussel sprouts really get a bad reputation.....when cooked properly, they are tender, sweet, and delicious.

I make my brussel sprouts like Barefoot Contessa, which is roasted in the oven with very simple seasonsings. I made Jason try one tonight and it was just like having a toddler in the house. He actually made a "yuck face" before he tried them. I did admit later that they weren't as bad as he thought they would be (thanks Jason).

Roasted Brussel Sprouts:
1 package of fresh brussel sprouts -- chop off the very end (it's tough) and take off any bruised or discolored leaves
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Once you have washed and trimmed the brussel sprouts, place them in a bowl
2. Drizzle with olive oil, just enough to coat the sprouts
3. Sprinkle with salt & pepper
4. Roast at 400 degrees in the oven for 20 minutes (or you could use the broiler)

Creme Brulee for Change

2008-11-05T20:01:00.003-06:00

To celebrate the election, Jason made Creme Brulee. He used a mix which called for 1 cup of cream, 1 cup of milk, and sugar. He added vanilla and it was awesome. You can make the real thing with egg yolks and lots of time/patience, but these mixes are just as good.

Creme Brulee is Jason's all-time favorite dessert. A few years ago, I bought him a kitchen torch to burn the sugar topping on creme brulee. We had just moved to Nashville and were living in an apartment. I came in from work one day to find Jason sitting on the couch in just his underwear roasting giant marshmallows (that were on the ends of chopsticks) with the kitchen torch. It was at that moment that I realized he might never ever make creme brulee, but this gift was money well spent!

Corny

2008-11-04T19:49:00.002-06:00

Tonight, I made a hearty corn chowder. Jason loved it, but did worry about the next day (you know what happens after you eat too much corn). The only thing I did different from the recipe was shred up a roasted chicken from the grocery store and add to the chowder. It was really great!!!

Corn Chowder:

8 strips bacon, cooked & chopped

1/4 cup good olive oil

2 chopped yellow onions

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 cups chicken stock

6 medium-diced white boiling potatoes, unpeeled

2 pounds frozen corn kernels

2 cups half-and-half
8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:
1. In a large soup pot, cook bacon.

2. Leave some of the fat in the pot.

3. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

4. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and cook for 3 minutes.

5. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

6. Add corn to the soup, then add the half-and-half and cheddar.

7. At this point, I shredded up my roasted chicken and added it to the chowder.

8. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted.

9. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

10. Serve hot with a garnish of bacon.

Bacon Cheddar Muffins

2008-11-02T08:40:00.005-06:00

Good morning everyone!! Since I had some extra time this morning, I thought I would get up and make some of my mom's favorite muffins. I'm not a big muffin fan. I only eat the tops, they are usually too sweet, and they're pretty boring. These muffins are the exception. They are full of cheese and bacon and you will want to eat every single bite.

Bacon Cheddar Muffins:

2 cups Bisquick

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

10 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (I use microwave bacon)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Mix all ingredients except for cheese & bacon

3. Batter will be lumpy, so don't worry about getting it completely smooth

4. Fold in cheese & bacon

5. Pour batter into 12 muffin cups

6. Bake for 20 minutes

It's Cocktail Time!

2008-11-01T19:58:00.002-05:00

Tonight, we ate at Chili's, but when we came home, I made one of my favorite drinks....a Pimm's Cup. Pimm's is an interesting liquor. Read more about it here. It's very refreshing and tastes unlike any other drink I've ever had. I drank all my Pimm's before I remembered to take a picture, so I'm just going to show you the bottle this time. You should try it sometime.

Pimm's Cup:
Pimm's
Ice
Ginger Ale (you could also use lemonade)

The English will chop up cucumber and strawberries in the Spring time and really make this drink special. Cheers!!

It's So Easy, It's Scary.....

2008-10-31T11:29:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween everyone!! I've made a great treat today that you'll be sure to love. I've said before that there are two things every kitchen must have, and now I'm adding a third item to this essential list.

1. Crock Pot
2. Cast Iron Skillet
3. Electric Ice Cream Maker - Yes, you need one!

Here is ours, but there are several other brands out there. We keep the insert in the freezer at all times, so that we can make ice cream whenever we want. The options are endless and you are really only limited by your imagination.

Here it the basic recipe for vanilla ice cream. From there, you can add whatever you want. We've tried several combinations that were tasty, including chocolate chips and rasberry jam -- it was to die for!!

Today, I used some of our Halloween candy for the flavoring. My sister Katie and I love Hershey's Special Dark, which you can only find in the Hershey's miniatures bags. I chopped up about six of those mini bars and put it in this ice cream. Trust me, it was good!!!

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream:
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 chopped up Special Dark miniature bars (you could use anything to mix in)

Directions:
1. Whisk ingredients together
2. Place ice cream maker insert into the machine and turn on
3. Pour mixture into the ice cream maker
4. Allow ice cream maker to mix 20-25 minutes total
5. After 20 minutes, add your chopped up candy bar (or other mix-in)
6. Place ice cream in freezer

*You can eat the ice cream right away and it has the consistency of a soft-serve ice cream. I always let it set in the freezer for at least an hour before serving so that it can harden just a bit. Homemade ice cream never gets as hard as store-bought ice cream, so it will still be soft. Enjoy!!

Pork Tenderloin Magic

2008-10-29T20:58:00.005-05:00

Tonight I took a gamble and it paid off. I decided that I wanted to cook a pork tenderloin for dinner. I decided to get creative and make up my own marinade. So, this morning, I threw a few things in the food processor and created magic. This tenderloin was moist, flavorful and pretty much awesome. Here's how I did it:

Pork Tenderloin Marinade:
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 green onions
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Throw everything into the food processor and mix
2. Rub over the entire tenderloin and let sit all day in the fridge
3. Brown both sides of the tenderloin in an iron skillet (about 3 minutes per side)
4. Stick skillet into a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes

Pumpkin Cake

2008-10-28T20:01:00.004-05:00

Our friend Sharla came over yesterday and made her world famous Pumpkin Cake. It was so good and it made the entire house smell like Fall. Jason took one bite and said, "It's not terrible." That's exactly what you want to hear after you've baked something. Then he grabbed four Laffy Taffys and watched Sharla and I sample her cake.

It's really easy, and relatively fat free, because there is no eggs or oil, yet the cake is very moist!!

Pumpkin Cake:
1 box spice cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup water

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients together
2. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean (start checking after 15 minutes)

*This recipe will make around 12-18 muffins or about 6 loaves of bread (see picture).

Mexican Cornbread

2008-10-27T19:52:00.003-05:00

If there's one thing that instantly takes me back to my grandmother's kitchen, it's Mexican Cornbread. This is her recipe that she perfected over the years. She would make this with almost anything - chicken, pork, casseroles, anything. My grandfather was one of those guys who wanted bread with every meal. This was my favorite!! Somehow my grandmother's cornbread always came out thin and crispy. Mine was fluffy, but moist, spicy, and delicious!!

Mexican Cornbread:
1 1/2 cup cornmeal
1 small can cream style corn
2/3 cup oil pour some in skillet
2 eggs
6 or more jalapeno ringlets chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup buttermilk (or milk) or more if mixture gets too thick -- (I used regular milk)
Cast Iron Skillet

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Mix all ingredients -- the mixture should be thin and runny like cake batter

3. When oven gets to 250 degrees put skillet in to get hot

4. Bake 20- 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown

For some reason, mine stuck to the bottom a little bit, so it broke apart.

Poppy Seed Chicken

2008-10-26T18:41:00.003-05:00

Tonight, I made a dish that my mom used to make all the time....Poppy Seed Chicken. This is one of those chicken casseroles that is a staple if you grow up in Alabama. This is real comfort food, but I added a chopped green onion, which my mom never did. I love the flavor of green onions and I like the color and taste that the bring to dishes.

Poppy Seed Chicken:
2-3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cooked
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 green onion, chopped
1 tube Ritz crackers
1/4 cup butter, melted
1-2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
Minute Rice

Directions:
1. Boil chicken in water and cute into cubes
2. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and line with cubed chicken
3. Sprinkle chopped green onion over the top of the chicken
4. Mix sour cream and soup together
5. Pour over chicken
6. In a sandwich bag, crush crackers and add poppy seeds and butter
7. Pour cracker mixture over chicken
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

***Serve over rice

Fall is here!

2008-10-25T13:37:00.003-05:00

Fall is here....the time to carve pumpkins, eat squash, and take pictures next to hay bales. I've got some delicious recipes for you over the next two weeks, so stay tuned. We're celebrating Fall here at Feeding Jason, and we hope you'll join us!!

Feeding Jason is made in the U.S.A.

Grilled Perfection

2008-10-23T20:09:00.001-05:00

Tonight, I grilled chicken. After countless Food Network episodes on grilling, I've finally learned my lesson -- don't keep flipping your chicken. Did that come out wrong? You know what I mean. All the chefs say to grill your chicken for 7 minutes or so and then flip once and cook for another 7 minutes.....that way, you always get crispy skin and that dark color that makes it look so good.

There are 10,000 different marinades for grilled chicken, but tonight I kept it simple. One other important tip for grilling. You need to make sure and buy chicken that is on the bone and still has the skin on it. Even if you don't want to eat the skin, it helps lock in flavor and moistness...trust me on this one. For a long time I thought boneless, skinless chicken was healthier, and it is, but it gets dry so easily -- it's just not worth it!!

Simple Grilled Chicken:
4 chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Rosemary -- lots of it

Directions:
1. Place chicken in a ziploc bag and drizzle with olive oil
2. Make sure every piece is completely covered
3. Throw in rosemary, salt, and pepper
4. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before grilling
5. See above for grilling instructions

Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2008-10-21T07:50:00.005-05:00

Tonight, Jason made these awesome cookies! We love pistachios, and of course we love cookies, but we never thought of combining the two until we found this recipe. It makes a ton of cookies ---6 dozen to be exact.

Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies:
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of dark brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of kosher salt (regular salt will suffice)
1 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped pistachios, raw and unsalted
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chunks

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream the butter and sugars together on high speed for three minutes
3. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat for 3 minutes, (scrape down the sides of the bowl)
4. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt
5. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture slowly
6. Fold in the pistachios and chocolate chunks
7. Drop heaping teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to set up on the cookie sheets before moving to a baking rack to cool completely.

Thank You Paula Deen

2008-10-20T08:23:00.004-05:00

Like her or not, Paula Deen has some good recipes. Tonight, I made Boursin Potatoes. Boursin is a garlic-herb cheese spread. It's really good for a party, but it's even better with potatoes. We also began chipping away at our freezer full of meat, so I also cooked a couple of steaks. The combination of steak with this sauce from the potatoes was out of this world. You will have to try this soon!

Boursin Potatoes:
5-6 Yukon Gold potatoes, skins on, sliced thinly
2 shallots, chopped
1 cup whipping cream
2.5 ounces Boursin Cheese (I could only find the 5 ounce package, so I just halved it)
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Slice the potatoes very thinly and chop shallots
2. Place half of the potatoes and shallots into a glass baking dish (round is better)
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
4. In a sauce pot, slowly heat cream and whisk in the Boursin cheese until melted
5. Pour half of the cream mixture over the potatoes
6. Top with remaining potatoes and shallots
7. Season with salt and pepper
8. Pour remaining cream mixture on top
9. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour

** The steak turned out great as well. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you should ask for one for Christmas (or Hanukkah). First, I rubbed the steaks with olive oil and Greek Seasoning. I haven't talked about Greek Seasoning very much on this blog, but I use it all the time. I prefer Cavender's if you can find it. Then, I heat the iron skillet on the stove and brown both sides of the steaks (about 5 minutes on each side). Then I top each steak with butter and finish them off in the oven for about 15 minutes or so. I love steaks on the grill, but this method is also a great way to cook steaks.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

2008-10-19T19:09:00.003-05:00

I love the idea of stuffed peppers, but I always wind up eating the filling and leaving the pepper. I just never want to take a big bite out of a green pepper. When I found this recipe, I thought it was brilliant. This tastes even better than stuffed peppers because the peppers are chopped up into small pieces and you still have all that great filling. I served this with garlic bread...it just felt right.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup:
2 lbs ground round
3 small green peppers, chopped with seeds removed
1 small onion, chopped
1 can chicken broth
1 - 14.5 ounce can peeled, crushed tomatoes
2 - 10 ounce cans tomato sauce
3 cups white rice, cooked
8-10 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. In a soup pot, cook ground beef in olive oil until browned
2. Add chopped onion and peppers and cook for 8 minutes
3. Drain grease
4. Add salt & pepper, chicken broth, tomatoes, and tomato sauce
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes
6. Cook rice (I used Minute rice) in a separate pot

** The recipe says to add rice to each bowl and then top with soup....I added all the cooked rice after the soup had cooked. I really like this better. The rice absorbs some of the liquid, so it ends up a little more on the stew side than a real soup, but it turned out great. This recipe makes a lot, but we froze the leftovers for another night.

It's Cocktail Time!

2008-10-18T12:50:00.004-05:00

I think I created a new drink....is that possible? I had to work today, so I was cranky. Jason took too long of a nap, so he was cranky. Those kind of days call for a liquid dinner. I saw that I had some leftover basil and I decided to get creative. I had vodka, a couple of limes, and I knew that something magical was about to be produced. I've searched online to see if this drink already exists, and I can't find anything. If you know what this drink is called, please let me know....otherwise, it will be known as a BLV (basil, lime, vodka).

BLV:
Vodka
Freshly squeezed lime juice
1 large basil leaf, shredded
Splash of ginger ale (or tonic water if you prefer)

You can really taste the basil in this drink and it's very refreshing. It's a great way to use up extra basil, and a great way to impress your friends (by telling them about a drink they've never heard of...the BLV). I also think the drink turned out really pretty, don't you?

Smashed Potatoes

2008-10-17T21:54:00.003-05:00

Today Jason bought $300 worth of meat from a door-to-door salesman.....typical, right? So, over the next few weeks, I'll be focusing on tasty side items and beef/pork dishes. Buckle up. Smashed potatoes are really easy and they go with just about everything. You could add almost anything to them and they would still turn out great. Here's how I do them....

Smashed Potatoes:
3-4 baking potatoes, chopped into small pieces (I leave the skins on)
3 green onions1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
A handful of shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper

1. Boil potatoes until completely cooked, drain and return to same pot
2. Add all ingredients and mash with a potato masher or a fork
3. I like these potatoes with lumps, but blend until your desired consistency
4. If the potatoes seem too dry, slowly add more milk and mix a little at a time

Too Much

2008-10-16T20:54:00.005-05:00

Too much work....too much pasta.....what was I thinking? I was off work today, so I decided to make stuffed shells. I've never done this before, so I decided to use the recipe on the back of the box of pasta shells. They forgot to mention that it takes almost an hour to get this stuff ready. They also forgot to mention that this recipe makes enough stuffed shells for a small army. Don't get me wrong, it turned out good, but I probably won't be making this dish again anytime soon.

Stuffed Shells:

1 - 12 oz. package of jumbo shells

1 - 32 oz. container of ricotta cheese

2 eggs

2 cups mozzerella cheese

1 Tablespoon chopped basil

Zest of one lemon

Salt & Pepper

1 package of Italian sausage

1 jar of pasta sauce

Directions:

1. Cook Italian sausage, drain grease, and let cool

2. Cook pasta according to package directions

3. Stir ricotta, eggs, mozzerella, basil, lemon zest and spices together in a bowl

4. Once sausage has cooled, add to cheese mixture

5. Lightly grease a baking dish

6. Pour some pasta sauce in the bottom of the baking dish

7. Once pasta has cooled, begin filling each shell with sausage/cheese mixture

8. Once all of the pasta shells have been filled, top with pasta sauce

9. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes

P.S. Jason loves garlic bread

Fried Corn

2008-10-15T20:36:00.004-05:00

Corn is Jason's favorite vegetable. I love this recipe for making fried corn. It's quick and delicious. I hate to admit it, but I got this recipe from Sandra Lee.

Fried Corn:
4 tablespoons butter
1 (16-ounce) bag frozen corn, defrosted
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt & Pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter

2. When butter is foamy add the corn stirring to coat with the butter

3. Cook stirring frequently for 1 minute

4. Add sugar and cook for 2 minutes more

5. Increase heat to high and add heavy cream-continue to stir so corn won't stick to pan

6. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes

7. Cook corn until most all of the cream has absorbed about 5 minutes more

Zucchini Couscous

2008-10-14T19:13:00.004-05:00

A couple of years ago, we discovered couscous. We really like it, but sometimes it can be a little boring. One night, I decided to try and sneak some veggies into our meal and I chopped up some zucchini into the couscous. To my surprise, Jason loved it and now this is how we eat couscous. The rest of tonight's meal included pork chops that I grilled in the dark (I've got skills) and roasted butternut squash.

Zucchini Couscous
1 box of plain couscous
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 zucchini, chopped
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Cook couscous according to package directions. Basically, boil water, stir in couscous and let sit for 5 minutes off the heat.
2. In a skillet, saute the chopped onion and zucchini until both are tender
3. Pour zucchini/onion mixture over the couscous and mix well

Tonight I just poured the mixture on top of the couscous, I didn't mix it in like normal. I'm not sure why. It turned out just as good though.

Roast Chicken with Smothered Potatoes

2008-10-13T20:26:00.005-05:00

Tonight, I cut up my first chicken. I always thought that cutting up a whole chicken was hard work, and it's tricky when you don't know what you're doing. Then I thought, if the Amish can do it, then so can I. You could buy a chicken that is already cut into pieces if you are in a hurry, but make sure that the chicken is on the bone and has the skin on it, or this recipe won't work.

According to the recipe, here's how to cut your chicken. We're basically just cutting it in half and leaving each breast & thigh attached. Find the backbone and cut alongside it with your knife. You'll see a little bone sticking out of the hole in the chicken (where the head used to be)....that's the bcckbone. Once you've cut along one side of the backbone, then cut along the other side and remove it completely. Next, remove the bag of giblets from inside the chicken. Now cut through the middle of the chicken making two big halves (see pictures below and you'll understand).

Roasted Chicken with Smothered Potatoes:
1 - 3lb frying chicken
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
8 new potatoes, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped (I used about 3 stalks)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Grease a 9x13 baking dish
3. Cut the chicken into two pieces
4. Place potates in the middle of the baking dish and surround with the onions
5. Salt and pepper potatoes and onions
6. Sprinkle garlic and rosemary over potatoes
7. Rub chicken halves with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary
8. Flatten chicken over the top of the potatoes
9. Roast for 45-50 minutes or until the skin of the chicken is golden brown

Step 1:

Step 2:

Finished Product:

Zuppa Toscana

2008-10-12T21:14:00.004-05:00

Tonight's dinner was inspired by the Olive Garden. I'm not the biggest fan of that establishment, so when we go, I usually order this wonderful soup they have on the menu called "Zuppa Toscana." It's a thick, creamy, hearty soup that is really easy to make. Jason gave this dinner two thumbs up!!

Zuppa Toscana:
1 package of spicy italian sausage
1 large onion
2 medium potatoes, cut into cubes
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
6 slices bacon
2 cups kale leaves, sliced
2 Tablespoons chicken stock
1 quart water
1/3 cup heavy cream
Red pepper flakes -- to taste
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Remove sausage from casings
2. Cook sausage in skillet until done
3. In soup pot, cook bacon and onion until done
4. Remove bacon from pot
5. Add garlic to onion and cook for 1 minute
6. Add potatoes, chicken stock, water and simmer for 15 minutes
7. Add bacon, sausage, kale and cream
8. Simmer for 4 minutes, then serve

ABC Bread (Almond, Banana, & Coconut)

2008-10-11T09:32:00.012-05:00

I love to bake on the weekends if I have time. This morning, I got up, made some coffee, turned on some music (click here to listen to my "Baking Mix") and I decided to bake something for Jason. I found this recipe from a new blog that I just discovered. Jason doesn't love bananas, and neither do I, but this recipe sounded really good. After he tried a bite, he agreed that even though this recipe has 4 bananas in it, you don't really taste it (same goes for the coconut, it's there, but just a hint).

Almond Banana Coconut Bread:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
4 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 2 cups)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
3/4 cup almonds (slivered or chopped), toasted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. To toast almonds, place in skillet on medium low heat, when you smell them, they're ready

3. Continue the same process with coconut -- the coconut will toast much faster and can easily burn, so watch it!!

4. In a mixing bowl, sift flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda

5. In a mixer, blend butter until smooth and creamy

6. Add sugars and mix on medium speed for a couple of minutes

7. Add eggs and beat well

8. Add vanilla and coconut milk

9. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mix just until the flour is all mixed in

10. Stir in the toasted almonds & coconut by hand

11. Place in baking dishes for 40-45 minutes......let cool for 10 minutes before serving

Four perfect loaves every time!! I bet you're thinking....."Wow, cool pan Kyle!! Where can I get one?" Well, here's the link to get your own. I love this pan because you can get more loaves baked at the same time and it's just easier to deal with than four individual loaf pans. Don't forget, several holidays are just around the corner and this bread would be a great gift for people you don't want to spend money on!

Curry Ketchup

2008-10-10T21:05:00.002-05:00

Tonight, I was worn out, so we just ate burgers and fries. I decided to kick it up a notch with a fun condiment, so I made curry ketchup. I first had this when we went to New York last year. We went to this place called Pomme Frites, which specializes in fries. They had a curry ketchup, but honestly, I think my version has more flavor.

Curry Ketchup:
1 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons curry powder

Mix together and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

If you like curry flavor or Indian food, you'll like the warmth that this ketchup has.....it's amazing what a big difference this will make to your next burger.

Get Ready to Live!

2008-10-09T19:05:00.004-05:00

This recipe is from my grandmother and it's one of my favorite things to eat. This dish goes with everything and it's really easy to prepare. Jason did a little dance when he found out we were having this tonight.....even on crutches, he still danced, which proves just how good this really is.

Baked Rice:
1 cup rice
1/2 cup water
3/4 stick of butter
1 can Campbell's French Onion Soup

1. Melt butter in a covered baking dish
2. Add remaining ingredients
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, stirring halfway through

The rice will absorb all of the liquid from the butter, water, and the soup and the flavor of the french onion soup will go through all of the rice.

Posole'

2008-10-08T19:53:00.007-05:00

Now I've never been to Mexico, but supposedly people eat Posole' around Christmas. In the Fall, every day is Christmas at our house because we love Posole'. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but you probably already have most of this stuff in your pantry already (ok, maybe not a can of hominy). This is a chunky, flavorful soup that I think you will love.

Posole':

2 cloves minced garlic

1 can hominy

1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce

1 bell pepper (red or green), chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup chicken stock

1 bunch of cilantro

Juice from one lime

Salt & Pepper

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 lb. of pork steak -- now we can't always find "pork steak" (not even sure what that is exactly), so we use boneless pork chops and cut them up into bite size pieces

Toppings:

Sour cream

Chopped green onions

Cheddar cheese

Shredded lettuce

Diced Avocado

Sliced radishes

More cilantro

Tortilla chips or Fritos

1. Saute chopped onion, bell pepper, and garlic in oil
2. Add chopped up pork and saute until browned
3. Add tomato sauce, chicken stock, hominy, and seasonings
4. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer
5. Let simmer for about 30 minutes, then add lime juice and cilantro
6. Serve with as many toppings as you like

***This recipe will make about two hearty bowls of posole'. If you are feeding four people, I would double this recipe. We usually double this recipe because we love it so much!!

Homemade Pizza

2008-10-07T21:27:00.005-05:00

We love pizza and Nashville has some really good places to get pizza. We've found that we love making our own "homemade" pizza. We can choose as many toppings as possible, it tastes great, and it's ready in under 10 minutes.

Kyle's Homemade Pizza:
2 thin crust pizza crusts
1 jar of Ragu Pizza Sauce
1 bag of shredded mozzerella cheese
1 package Canadian Bacon

Kyle added sliced green olives and herbed goat cheese. Jason added shredded pepper jack cheese and Italian herbs (we were out of bacon).

Just follow the baking directions on the pizza crust package. Most brands cook in 10 minutes or less. This is so much faster than ordering delivery pizza!! We love it!!

Balsamic Strawberries

2008-10-06T20:16:00.004-05:00

When we first heard of someone putting balsamic vinegar on strawberries we made a face. Then we saw the Barefoot Contessa do it and it seemed like the best idea on earth. Seriously, if you've never seen her show on Food Network, you should try to catch a few episodes. You'll wish you were one of her gay best friends in the Hamptons. Contessa can do no wrong in our world. The strawberries are sweet, but there is a hint of spiciness that makes them really good. The next time we make these, we'll serve it with homemade ice cream or maybe creme brulee.

Balsamic Strawberries:
2 pints (4 cups) sliced fresh strawberries
2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.

A Whole Lotta Bean Dip

2008-10-05T20:30:00.006-05:00

Have you noticed that most of our food doesn't photograph too well. At first, I thought it was our camera, but now I realize that much of our food is brown. It's fine, and tastes great, but not so pretty sometimes.

We spent Sunday with our friend Sharla and she made her famous bean dip....and she made a lot of it. This recipe is great for a party or a really hungry family.

Sharla's Bean Dip:
1 package taco seasoning
1 8oz container of sour cream
2 cans beans
1 16 oz. package shredded cheddar cheese

Mix everything together in a baking dish
Bake 30-45 minutes or until bubbly and warm

Chocolate Souffle Pudding Cake

2008-10-04T21:42:00.004-05:00

Tonight, we got take out from a local (and kinda scary) restaurant, Baily & Cato's. Well I guess the old saying is true, "Nothing goes better with Soul Food than Chocolate Souffle Pudding Cake." Ok, ok, maybe I just made that up, but if you say it enough times it sort of sounds like an old saying.

This recipe came from a cookbook that I love, Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor. Anne Byrn has several cookbooks where she takes an ordinary box cake mix, adds a few extra ingredients, and creates something magical. I don't think she's a real doctor, but I would put my life in her hands because everything I've made from her cookbook has been awesome!

Chocolate Souffle Pudding Cake:
2 cups miniatrue marshmallows
1 package Devil's Food Cake Mix (we screwed up and used plain Chocolate Cake and it was fine)
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cups water
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 unsweetened cocoa powder
3 1/2 cups boiling water

1. Line a greased 9x13 pan with marshmallows
2. In your mixer, mix together cake mix, eggs, 1 1/3 cup of water for 1 minute on low speed
3. Scrape down the sides and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed
4. Pour batter over the marshmallows
5. Mix together the brown sugar and cocoa powder and sprinkle on top of the batter
6. Pour the 3 1/2 cups of boiling water over the top of the entire mixture
7. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes - you want the edges to be firm but the center to be jiggly
8. Let cool for 20 minutes before eating

It's sort of like an old-fashioned hot fudge sundae cake that my grandmother used to make. (Taylor, you should make this for Marley!)

I served it in mugs, and it was so good. I know what you're thinking - Two Girls, One Cup (you didn't think I could work in that reference did you?).....yes, like many of our recipes, it might not look great, but trust me, this is delicious!!

Pot Roast

2008-10-03T21:15:00.004-05:00

Pot Roast is one of the easiest things to do. We've used pork and beef in the past and they're both delicious, though pork roasts seem to have more flavor. Tonight, I used a boston butt roast. You will need a crock pot for this recipe and if you don't have one, drop what you're doing and go get one. The roast just falls apart, which again isn't all that pretty, but the taste is so good. We serve this meal with chef hat rolls (aren't those good with just about anything?) and lots of A-1 sauce.

Pot Roast
1 roast (boston butt or whatever is on sale)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped
5-6 red potatoes, washed and quartered
1 package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
Dash of red pepper flakesD
Dash of fennel seeds
Salt & Pepper

1. Rub roast with minced garlic, salt and pepper
2. Sprinkle onion soup mix over roast and add chopped veggies
3. Add enough water to the crockpot to just cover the roast/veggies
4. Let cook on low for 6-8 hours

Potato Box

2008-10-02T21:23:00.000-05:00

We call this meal Potato Box and it's another one of those quick fix meals that is ready in about 30 minutes (and it couldn't be easier). We think Jason's brother Jeff would love this meal for some reason. Maybe it's the combination of ground beef and potatoes from a box, maybe it's the bread crumb topping, or just call it a hunch. Either way, this dinner is in heavy rotation at our house because of how easy and delicious it is.

Potato Box
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1 box of potatoes (we've used juliene, scalloped, hashbrown, they're all great with this)
1 small onion, chopped (optional)
Bread Crumbs
Spray Butter
*Some box potato packages call for milk, so make sure you have about a cup on hand

1. Brown ground beef and one small onion in a skillet
2. Drain grease
3. Assemble potatoes according to package directions (add water & milk to dry potatoes and place in a casserole dish)
4. Add ground beef & onion to potatoes before placing into the oven
5. Top with bread crumbs and give it a few hits of spray butter
6. Bake according to package directions

The result is wonderful and if you try this, you'll probably be thanking us for changing your life with this recipe.

Chicken & Aspargus

2008-10-01T21:08:00.005-05:00

Tonight, we had a wonderful chicken and asparagus recipe from Paula Deen. Jason loves her (see below). This meal is really good comfort food, but you don't have to feel guilty eating it because of the asparagus (that's how we justify it). Here's Jason, Judy, and Paula in Tunica last spring.

Chicken & Asparagus

4 boneless chicken breast halves

1 bunch of asparagus

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup of sour cream

Zest of half a lemon

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

1 cup of cheddar cheese

1. Brown the chicken in olive oil

2. Break the asparagus to tear off the tough end piece

3. Arrange asparagus in a greased 9x13 baking dish

4. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, soup, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt/pepper

5. Cut up chicken and place over asparagus

6. Top with soup mixture

7. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes

8. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and let sit for 5 minutes while cheese melts

We served this over rice.....for that, we just made minute rice. While the rice was cooling, we chopped up a few green onions in the rice and it tasted great. It also looks fancy when you have little bits of green on top of your food.

Pork Chops and Applesauce

2008-09-30T22:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, ok, no applesauce, just a baked potato. It was late, I was tired, but I decided to cook dinner anyway. We tried these cooking bags from McCormick. The flavors were really great and they cook in 30 minutes. Just dump the meat in the bag, add the spices, cut a few holes in the bag, and stick in the oven. It couldn't be easier and the pork chops were delicious. We had baked potatoes as a side. We ate at 10:00!

Sharla Spaghetti

2008-09-29T13:46:00.003-05:00

I used to be a Ragu snob until our friend Sharla showed us that it can be good....in fact, it's the secret to making her signature dish, "Sharla Spaghetti." You take one jar of original Ragu, add tons of garlic powder, and there you have it.

And for dessert.... Nothing like Kroger brand ice cream cookies!

They Can't All Be Good....

2008-09-28T19:51:00.004-05:00

Some nights I'm just not into it. I had to work yesterday and I really didn't have anything in mind for dinner. Usually, these are the kind of nights that we would order in or go out to eat. We didn't because Jason is still not feeling well, so I checked out the pantry and threw this mess together.

That odd looking piece of red meat is barbecue chicken on top of pepper jack cheese grits (we love grits as a side dish). The pile of stuff next to that is a zucchini casserole that I had been wanting to try for a few weeks now. It wound up tasting like something you would have at a church potluck - not great.

I will share my recipe for grits because they are so fast and so, so easy!!!

Pepper Jack Cheese Grits:

3 cups water

3/4 cup quick cooking grits

Salt

4 ounces Pepper Jack Cheese

2 Tablespoons of butter

1. Boil the water and add salt

2. Slowly stir in the grits and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly

3. Add the butter and cheese

You could really use any kind of cheese and these would turn out wonderful. Sometimes I will chop up green onions into the grits right before I serve them.

Breakfast Supper

2008-09-27T21:29:00.006-05:00

I asked Jason if he wanted Breakfast Supper tonight. He said, "nah, I'll just eat a bowl of Cap'n Crunch." I rolled my eyes and told him that we could have bacon and he quickly changed his mind.

Tonight's dinner was inspired by my favorite tv chef -- The Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten). I watched her earlier this week make a breakfast of roasted asparagus and scrambled eggs, so tonight I decided to give it a try. Asparagus is one of the few green things that Jason will eat - he actually loves it.

The full dinner consisted of bacon, toast, hashbrowns, asparagus and scrambled eggs.

Barefoot Contessa's Roasted Asparagus and Scrambled Eggs
1 bunch asparagus, ends chopped off
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

4-6 eggs
Splash of milk (or half-n-half)

1. Drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper over asparagus
2. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes
3. Add milk to eggs and scramble

Why Salad?

2008-09-26T20:01:00.008-05:00

This is what Jason said when I told him we were having a salad for dinner. He didn't want salad, but I felt like something easy, so this was it. Like many mom's out there, I wound up making something different for my little picky eater.....see below. This salad turned out really well, if I do say so myself. I know you probably don't write down recipes for salads, but this one was really good.

Simple Salad:

1 roasted chicken from the supermarket

1 Hass avocado, chopped

Goat Cheese crumbles

1 bag salad mix

Salt & Pepper

Honey Balsamic Vinagrette by T. Marzetti

This is what Jason had for dinner tonight. If you have a child, even a niece or nephew, this is probably something they would love to eat as well.....box macaroni and cheese, chicken tenders, and ketchup.

Burger King

2008-09-25T21:45:00.017-05:00

Tonight we continued our week long celebration of carbs with our friends Brent and Sharla.

Brent will forever be known as the Burger King. Brent dazzled us with his culinary skills tonight. He made glazed burgers, homemade fries, and made from scratch aioli (just like the Europeans). Everything was wonderful.Even though it didn't make the picture, we did have bacon for our burgers and Jason was ecstatic.

We asked what we could bring, and they said "nothing." Of course, we had to bring something, so we brought Monkey Munch (see earlier post) since we still have 15 pounds of this stuff left. It was a great night.

Brent's Smoky Glaze:
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon instant coffee crystals
2 teaspoons brown sugar

1. Mix ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat

2. Once glaze starts boiling, remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of butter, & you're done.

Brent's Roasted Garlic Aioli:
1 head of garlic (roasted in the oven - 1 hour @ 300 degrees)
3/4 cup of mayo
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
3 tablespoons chives (can also substitute parsley, cilantro, thyme, etc...)
salt and pepper to taste

1. To roast garlic, cut off the top of the head of garlic, exposing the cloves

2. Wrap garlic in tin foil with salt, pepper and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil

3. Bake at 300 degrees for an hour

4. Squeeze garlic into a bowl and mash into a paste

5. Add other ingredients and mix together -- feel free to use a food processor for this part

Monkey Munch

2008-09-24T18:00:00.012-05:00

Tonight we ate these awful quesadillas from Costco. Click on their link and you'll understand. They were really gross, so don't buy them. Jason make a snack today inspired by one of his favorite shows, Jon & Kate + 8, on TLC.

We don't have kids yet, but we do love watching this show. Colin and Leah are our favorites on the show and Kate is always stuffing their faces with this stuff. After making it, we feel that this recipe is really great for kids or seniors citizens (protein, fiber, and nothing that would stick to dentures).

Here's what you'll need for Monkey Munch.....this recipe makes enough for 8 hungry kids or 1 hungry Jason.

Monkey Much:
9 cups Chex cereal(any kind)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (6oz.)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, melted
1/4 cup butter, melted
1-2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1 Measure cereal and set aside
2 Microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter for 1 minute on high
3 Stir and cook for 30 seconds longer or until smooth.
4 Add vanilla
5 Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until coated
6 Pour mixture into large Ziploc bag and add powdered sugar
7 Shake until well coated
8 Spread on waxed paper to cool

Jason + Bacon = True Love

2008-09-23T22:32:00.014-05:00

Jason's favorite vegetable is corn (iceberg lettuce is a close 2nd). So tonight, I was trying to find a way to make corn more exciting. I decided to incorporate the one thing Jason loves more than money......bacon!!!

This recipe is so easy, you will love it. Make sure to use a quality bacon.

Squaw Corn
1-2 pats of butter
1 onion, diced
5-6 slices of bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 bag of frozen corn (or 3-4 ears of fresh corn)
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Add butter to skillet and cook bacon and onions together
2. Drain bacon grease
3. Add corn, salt & pepper
4. Cook until corn is heated through, about 10 minutes

You might be thinking, "Kyle, what would I serve with this delicious recipe?" Um, duh....you would serve Shake-N-Bake chicken and green beans. Jealous anyone?

Chili Cheese Fries

2008-09-22T20:52:00.012-05:00

Leftover chili can only mean one thing......chili cheese fries. This is much more fun than just eating another bowl of chili, we did that last night. We never promised low-fat dishes on this blog, but everything we cook is tasty, easy, and fun!

To make this quick and easy dinner, you'll need:

1 bag of crinkle cut fries
1 cup shredded cheese -- we used cheddar and pepper jack
1-2 cups leftover chili

This could not be easier....just cook the fries according to package directions and reheat the leftover chili. Then pour the chili over the fries and top with shredded cheese. The heat from the fries/chili will melt the cheese.

Appetizers

2008-09-22T19:32:00.008-05:00

I think we're having some form of Chili again tonight. I was too hungry to wait so I made an appetizer. I'm fancy like that. The picture says it all. I LOVE frozen goodies like this. Tyson is my hero. Plus I didn't have to share them because everyone else was taking naps. - Jason

Snack Time

2008-09-22T14:30:00.010-05:00

When: 11:34 pm

Where: Bed. Watching Jon & Kate + 8 on TiVo

What: Pop Tarts (frosted blueberry)

I love pop tarts, both frosted and plain. When I have the plain pop tarts I spray butter on them while they're still warm. Ummmmmm, so good. In the picture you can see Lucy Jane hoping I will be kind enough to drop a piece for her to clean up. No dice. I actually went downstairs two more times. Yes, 6 pop tarts in all. I had a really bad dream later.

Chili

2008-09-21T20:34:00.010-05:00

Most people think chili has to slow cook all day, but in reality it can be ready in as little as 15 minutes. This is our easy chili recipe that you can tweak as needed. If chili seems like a chore to you, make sure and try our easy version.

1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 large onion, diced
4 - 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
1 can chili beans (we don't like too many beans in our chili)
1 packet of McCormick Mild Chili Seasoning
1 packet of McCormick Hot Chili Seasoning

Toppings:
Cheddar or Pepper Jack Cheese
Sour Cream
Fritos

Really, just follow the directions on the back of the chili seasoning packets. If you don't want to read that, just do the following:

1. Brown ground beef and onions in a large pot

2. Drain grease
3. Add tomato sauce, chili seasoning, and beans
4. Bring mixture to a boil and then let simmer for at least 15 minutes

Rustic Green Curry

2008-09-20T18:19:00.009-05:00

2 cups of rice
2 tablespoons green curry paste
1 can of lite coconut milk
1 lb. chicken cut into chunks
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash
1 bunch of basil

Any veggie combination will do for this recipe, it's up to you and your preferences.

1. Cook the rice according to package directions.
2. In another pot, bring the coconut milk and the curry paste to a slow boil, stirring until the curry paste is dissolved.
3. Add the diced chicken and vegetables.
4. Let simmer until chicken and vegetables are completely cooked.
5. Tear basil and add to curry mixture.
6. Serve over rice.