OK, this blog has taught me quite a bit since I started it. !. I like cooking much more then I like blogging. 2. I don't suck as a cook. 3. I really need to wear some kind of shoes when I am on the treadmill.

Number three just came into my mind as I was sitting here thinking my toes are raw from walking barefoot on the treadmill.

Sadly, this is my last post. I have probably made at least a dozen meals since my last post and have not posted a single one. I know now that I am definitely a better cook then I am a blogger, so this blog has served it's purpose. I have made a number of dishes and have not even once had the desire to blog about them. I have "come out of my shell" as far as cooking goes and I do believe this blog has helped me do that. I made all of the components for Christmas Eve dinner except for the jello!! I am very happy with the results of this blog. It has helped me to realize that I am not a horrible cook, but I am a horrible blogger.


Happy Eating!!!

carb-free. caffeine-free, sugar-free

Ok, I have been slacking BIG TIME!! I haven't really made anything new lately, but I have been more inspired to cook more often and use different seasonings.

Because I have been Diabetic for over 30 years (I was 10 when diagnosed), I am always on the lookout for different carb-free, or low-carb, creations. One of my latest finds is atually something very quick and easy. I love carbonated beverages. I am not a big fan of 7-up or Sprite. I like a fruitier soda. I do like orange soda, but not every day. My solution - club soda with sugar free drink mix.

Now this may not sound exciting to most people, but being Diabetic as long as I have been, this is very exciting to me. Crystal Light started the whole sugar free drink mix trend and so many others have started doing it now, so I am in heaven. The best part is, a lot of them now come in individual serving sizes (like to add to one bottle of water). This is great because I can have a whole variety of these sugar free drink mixes in the pantry and buy a 12 pack of club soda and I am set!

I just recently realized that club soda has no sugar in it. I was experimenting with different mixed drinks and started researching the ingredients of all of my favorite drinks. While out to dinner with my husband, I asked the bartender to make me something that was light on carbs. He muddled orange and lemon, added a splash of triple sec, a shot of vodka and shook it up. Poured that into a glass and topped it with club soda. It was fantastic so I decided to try it at home. That was when I discovered there were no carbs (no sugar) in club soda. After my realization, I decided to try mixing club soda with some of the drink mixes I had in the pantry. It works great!! I take one little packet, pour it into a glass (big enough to hold a soda), add a 12 ounce can of club soda, stir it gently and add ice. I am trying fruit punch for the first time today and I have to say, I feel like a little non-Diabetic kid in a candy store!!

Tonight we had Pork-Oulet. This is a play on the original Cassoulet recipe that I was inspired to try because I watched Guy Fieri this past weekend. www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/pork-oulet-recipe/index.html I will say, I am not at all impressed with the name, but the dish was delicious and I got a thumbs up from Hubby, Daughter and Daughter's Boyfriend.

I started by taking 1/4 pound of thick sliced bacon pieces and sauted that in my cast iron Dutch Oven on medium low heat. While that was cooking I seasoned the chunks of pork butt and chicken thighs with salt and pepper. One thing I did that the recipe didn't call for was to cut through the bones in the chicken thighs to add more flavor. I did find out that if you do plan on doing this putting the skin side down on the cutting board before trying to whack it with the cleaver is a good idea. On the first one I removed the skin first, then whacked it. I ended up slicing open my finger. Thank goodness for bandages and plastic gloves because this is definitely a get your "hands dirty" kind of recipe.

Anyway, it all went fairly smooth and no one else got hurt after that. Took the bacon out and set it on a paper towel to drain. Browned the pork butt in the bacon drippings first, then removed to a bowl (wanted to catch all the flavor in the juices). Next came the chicken, browned it then added it to pork butt. Finally onions, carrots and celery. Let that cook until onions were transparent, added garlic, cooked about a minute then added flour. I added too much flour so I immediately added some of the chicken stock and made a sort of rue. It got very pasty so I decided to add the whole container of chicken stock (4 cups) I then put all of the pork and chicken back in - I used 8 chicken thighs instead of 4. I threw in my two bay leaves, lowered the stove to simmer and put the lid back on. I let that simmer for two hours. I drained my beans (I used canned white beans - that was all I could find at the store, but I think they are the same as cannellini beans) and added them to the pot. Cooked another 25 minutes and voila! it was dinner time. I made some garlic toast and it was a really tasty cold weather meal. Oh yeah, I couldn't find the cipollini onions, so I used regular, diced yellow onions that I had in the freezer. I like to buy a big bag of onions and dice them all at once then freeze them in small ziploc baggies. It works great!

I think I am going to go watch some TV now cuz my belly is full and I want to snuggle under a blanket.

Happy Eating!!

Well, it has been a while, but I finally got back in the kitchen tonight. I could blame it on the time change, and as a matter of fact, I think I will. I have had no gumption for much of anything since the time change this fall. I do think I am turning into my dad's mother. We could never understand why Gramma would be up at 4:30 AM hosing off her front walk. Well, I think I finally understand. As I lay in bad, staring at the ceiling (we have a projection clock in our bedroom), all I can do is think, "darn, if I lived in the city, I could go and hose off my front walk".

Anyway, tonight I made a very tasty, and super easy, dish. I got the inspiration from a recipe out of the Taste of Home July/August recipe booklet sold at checkout counters. This one is simply titled Bacon and my best friend, Patti, shared it with me when I started telling her about the three pound package of bacon I had in my refrigerator that I needed to do something with. I have been hearing comments from the hubby about how that bacon was going to go bad if I didn't do something with it. He was also making comments like "So, how is that blog thing going? Don't you think you need to add to it?" He says I spoiled him with all of the cooking that I had been doing when I started the blog and he was missing it.

The recipe is http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/BLT-Skillet I did make some alterations. I didn't have linguine so I used spaghetini. Also, I didn't have fresh tomatoes or parsley so I used canned tomatoes and dried parsley. Oh, and I did not add any salt because the bacon I used was very salty. This actually turned out great!! This will go into my arsenal of things I can make with ingredients I have on hand and it tasted quite delicious. Hubby was pleasantly surprised and so was I!

Happy Eating!!

I finally got back in the kitchen today!! It was a success!! I watched a show this weekend starring Nigella Lawson and she did a Spanish chicken dish that had bone in, skin on, chicken thighs, little potatos and chorizo sausage, so I decided to try it. Everythig was going well, until I got home from the store. I remembered everything but the chorizo which is a vital part of the dish. Well, not wanting to return to the store, I had to compromise and work with ingredients I had. I took the mild Italian sausage I had in the freezer out to defrost and started cooking.



First I took a shallow baking dish, the kind you would use to make a jelly roll, and spread about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom. I added Herbs da Provance (sp). I then cut my little red potatos in half and set them aside. Now time for the chicken. I smeared the chicken thighs, skin side down, in the olive oil with the herbs. I then flipped them over so the skin side was up. Broiled that for about 10 minutes or so until the skin was crispish. I added the potato and Italian sausage (without the casing). Sprinkled with salt and pepper, returned to the oven and baked for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.



Super easy and very tasty. Got a thumbs up from the husband and the daughter. Both said they would eat it again!!! I love kitchen successes!!



Happy Eating

OK, so it has been FOREVER since I have cooked anything new, or at least since I have blogged about it. A lot has happened in the past few weeks, so I have kind of lost touch with my blog. Tonight we had a great dinner and all I did was heat things up! We went to Gramma's for dinner and had a "Costoco" dinner. We had the crab stuffed salmon, chicken corn chowder and a dessert that was absolutely fabulous. We had to pick up a few items for Gramma's household, so we decided to bring Sunday dinner over as well. It was all delicious! The dessert, I can't remember what it was called, but it was sooooo good. I did have wine, so that is probably why I am rambling on about the food, but what is a good Sunday dinner at Gramma's without a few glasses of wine? Not a good Sunday dinner! Gramma and I chatted while Hubby and Aunt Carol watched TV. It was perfect!

I will be getting back to cooking this week. We were really busy with our Halley getting married! She looked so beautiful, and Adam looked so handsome. It made my heart smile to watch them go through this joyous occasion. I still get all shmoopy when I see there faces in my mind. I hope that I have my memories until I die! What a wonderful gift we are given to be able to remember times like the ones I was able to expericence yesterday.


HAPPY EATING!!!

I have two things to blog about! Tonight I made Cheddar Ranch Burgers that were absolutely DELICIOUS and super easy to make. I took one pound of ground beef out of the freezer (we get half a beef every year from my brother so we are stocked up on beef), put it into a ziploc bag and put it in the fridge to defrost yesterday morning. Today when I got home from work, I unwrapped the meat, put it back in the ziploc bag, added one packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix, zipped the bag back up and kneaded it all together. I then broke it up into four equal size portions. I took some mild cheddar cheese slices, folded them into fourths and put it in the middle of each 1/4 pound patty I made. Got my grill pan nice and hot, grilled each patty for about 5 minutes on each side while I preheated the oven to 350. Once I finished grilling, I put the grill pan in the oven for about 8 minutes. When that was done, we sliced some tomato and put a slice of tomato with a patty on a bun and it was soooo good!

I told hubby I had to blog about it and he asked if I had blogged about my Mexican chicken and rice. Well I hadn't so here it is. I had frozen legs and thighs, so I took out two thighs and four legs. Let them defrost and seasoned them with Adobo (one of my new favorite spices). Browned the chicken in a sauted pan in olive oil. Then added teaspoon of minced garlic, teaspoon of minced shallots and about 1/2 cup of Sofrito paste. I then added about 1 cup of chicken stock and let it simmer on low for about 45 minutes. I had some boil-in-bag Uncle Ben's white rice and made two bags of that. Put the rice into a serving dish and spooned the chicken and sauce over the rice. It was obviously a hit because hubby asked if I had blogged about it.

The more successes I have, the higher my confidence level gets. This cooking thing is very exciting.

Happy Eating!!