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!!

Pretty impressed with myself! I made Chicken with Jazmine rice and shitake mushrooms. Super simple and very tasty. I had boneless skinless chicken thighs in the freezer and this morning I had the sense to take 4 out for dinner, when I got home I salted the chicken and browned in in a deep skillet in olive oil. Once it was browned, I added a teaspoon of crushed garlic, a teaspoon of chopped shallots, a squirt of Lemon Grass spice blend and a squirt of Ginger herb mix (both from Gourmet Garden, in tubes in the produce section at the grocery store). Let that simmer for a bit then added about cup and a half of chicken broth, simmered a little longer. Had dried shitake mushrooms (bought big bag at Costco almost a year ago and finally got to the end), rinsed them while everything was simmering. Measured out cup and a half of Jazmine rice. Added rice, mushrooms, a sprinkle of Asian seasoning and cup and a half of water to the chicken mixture, turned stove down to low, let it simmer for about 20 minutes and oh my Cheezits!! Delicious!!

Happy Eating!

Did not cook tonight, but I did cook last night. I made delicious sirloin tip steaks and garlic mashed potatoes. No recipe, I just winged it! Seasoned the steaks with salt and pepper and seared them in the grill pan, then finished them in the oven. The mashed potatoes were a total cheat. Took a microwave baby reds product, put about 1/2 teaspoon of roasted garlic in it before I cooked it and added about 2 tablespoons of butter after cooking. It was delicious. I must say, my confidence in cooking has improved a great deal.

Happy Eating!!

Oh my cheezits! It has been almost one month since I have done any cooking! We have been very busy moving the Golden Girls (Gramma, Aunt Carol, and Cathy) to Visalia. They are finally all moved in and settled so our lives should be getting back to normal.

Yesterday I took a rump roast out of the freezer. I will be making Oven Baked Rump Roast http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1927,147169-239194,00.html It is already marinating in the fridge. It is supposed to marinate overnight, so I may not be cooking it tonight. I do have a back up plan. Hubby took some Italian sausage out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost. I wonder if he has noticed I haven't cooked anything since August 19th? I am guessing this was his way of saying "get something out of that freezer and cook it!" :-}

Happy Eating!!

Forgot the chicken in the sink when I went to work, so I had to throw it away! With no back up plan for dinner, I was forced to throw something together.

Sauted some shallots in olive oil and garlic salt, threw in some mushrooms, added some butter, let it cook for just a minute or two. Boiled some spaghetti noodles. Threw some sun dried tomatoes into the olive oil/butter/shallot/mushroom mix. Added some capers. Spashed in some white wine. Let it simmer for about five minutes. Threw everything together in a bowl and it was FABULOUS!! Hubby loved it and asked if I remember what I did. Feels good to actually throw something together on the fly and have someone say it was delicious!! Today was a very good day!!

Happy Eating!

Wow, summer is a tough time to cook. I had planned on making biscuits to go with last nights dinner and decided it was too darn hot to turn on the oven. Instead I made microwave mashed potatos.

I made a BBQ Stew. Hubby absolutely hates stewed meat, but loves BBQ so I thought I would give it a try. It was a so-so meal, according to him. To make the BBQ Stew I grabbed a pack of frozen beef stew meat that I had in the freezer - my brother gave us half of a beef so we have lots of beef in the freezer - put it in the crock pot and pourd BBQ sauce in with it. I use Sweet Baby Rays, but I am sure which ever one you prefer will work. I put the crock on high and after an hour or so I was able to break up the chunks. Cooked it for another four hours and it really turned out good. Super easy. I was going to make bisquit sandwhiches and ended up putting the mixture over microwave mashed potatos. I really like BBQ sauce on mashed potatos.

Happy Eating!

Today I made something totally from scratch! I had frozen, bone in chicken thighs in the freezer and put them in the crock pot. I then put in on 14 oz can of whole tomatoes, a half a jar of marinated artichoke hearts and all the juice, a wole onion peeled and quatered and four cloves of peeled garlic. I set that to cook on low for 9 hours and served it over jasmine rice. It was fantastic!!! I figured I would give my crock pot another chance after the Moo Shu Pork fiasco. So glad I did! It was an easy Sunday dinner that was absolutely satisfying!!

Happy Eating!!

Well, it has been a long time since I have created something new, but today I did. I made Pork & Mushroom Moo Shu in the crock pot http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Pork-Mushroom-Moo-Shu-Recipe

Not excited about this recipe. The best part about tonights dinner was the plum sauce (not part of the recipe, just something I put in at the last minute). Hubby said it tasted like stewed meat. I have to agree with him. We did not get overly full tonight and we have no left overs. We threw what was left away.

I am not giving up, still searcing for new recipes and hopefully I will find something fabulous to do with beef as I have a freezer full!!

Happy Eating!!

This post is a few days late. I actually made something on Thursday, July 22 that was very tasty. We had our Godson, Julian, come and spend the evening with us and I completely forgot to blog about it. First thing I made was Parmesan-Crusted Pork Loin Cutlets http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/parmesan-crusted-pork-loin-cutlets-recipe/index.html These were very good, and Julian and hubby both ate a lot!! You know when a 1-1/2 year old eats your cooking, it is the best feelng in the world! The other recipe I made that night was Caprese Tartlets http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/caprese-tartlets-recipe/index.html Very tasty little tidbits. Again, Julian really liked these. Hubby was not that impressed with the cream cheese filling, and I have to admit, I wasn't that crazy about it either. I did use a lot of mozzarella, so maybe the cream cheese filling was not necessary. The "cups" were very easy to make and they did taste good. I have an olive oil spray that I used instead of brushing the olive oil on to the pieces of bread and it worked just fine. I also used a water glass to roll out my bread because I was not in the mood to hand wash my rolling pin. I put a piece of parchment paper on the counter and when I was ready to spray, it didn't get everywhere. I love easy clean up.

Well, hubby is making burgers and potato salad for dinner, so no cooking for me tonight!!

Happy Eating!!!

Oh My Cheezits!! I am soooo excited. Last night we went out for dinner because we got so busy, but when we got home I had 5 chicken legs in the fridge that needed to be cooked. I took a packet of onion soup mix, sprinkled it into the bottom of a small pan, placed the 5 chicken legs on top of that, took some crushed garlic and smeared a little on top of each leg and took a can of whole tomatoes and poured it over that and added 1 cup of white wine. I coooked it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Tonight I took the left over, plain Jasmine rice I had in the fridge, combined it with the chicken, onion soup, garlic and tomato concoction and warmed it up in the microwave. Hubby said it was fantastic! The flavor was absolutely delicious! I am very pleased with myself for throwing that together. I have never made something by the seat of my pants that was actually edible!! I am on such a high right now, you have no idea!!! For anyone out there who reads this and may doubt themselves, take it from someone who has NEVER been a good cook, KEEP ON TRYING!!!

Happy cooking and eating!!!

OK, so yesterday I made a wonderful anniversary dinner! Our anniversary is today. I was so wrapped up in trying to do a good job, I didn't realize I was a day early. I made My Mother's Chicken with Barbeque Sauce (not my mother's but Alex Guarmashelli's) http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alexandra-guarnaschelli/my-mothers-chicken-with-barbeque-sauce-recipe/index.html Baked Potato Salad http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alexandra-guarnaschelli/baked-potato-salad-recipe2/index.html and Blueberry Pie http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alexandra-guarnaschelli/blueberry-pie-recipe/index.html

The chicken was super tasty and not to hard to do. I even made barbeque sauce. Tate and I both liked the flavor. I am not a huge fan of barbeque sauce, but Tate LOVES BBQ chicken. The potato salad was good, but I didn't have the right consistency on the sauce. I did discover that baking the potatos for a salad makes it about 100 times better than boiling them. The pie was scary looking but oh so delicious! I had a food hangover after this meal. I think three new recipes in one day might be a little bit of overkill. The good news is that today is our anniversary and we both get to relax and I think we will get take out, watch a movie and relax!

Happy Eating!!!

Well after a week of being gone visiting family in Illinois and then another almost week of getting things straightened out at the office, I am finally back in the kitchen!!

Last night I made two new things. Chuck Dip Sandwiches - I actually did not use a recipe but after reviewing some recipes for chuck roast in the crock pot, I decided to try it. I used a 2 lb. frozen chuck roast, 2 packets of onion soup mix and 2 beers. I sprinkled the soup mix in the bottom of the crock and set the frozen roast on top of that. Then I poured the beers over the top of the meat and set the crock pot to cook on low for 8 hours. When I got home I removed the meat from the crock, cut thin slices and placed that on a fresh French roll. I dressed the roll with a horseradish-mayonaise. I then spooned out the juice into little bowls so that we could dip our sandwiches. They were really good. Hubby does not care for pot roast at all and he really liked this!

My next item was Napa Salad. We had this at a BBQ at cousin Elsa's while we were in Illinois.

Napa Salad recipe
2-pkg Ramen Noodles - Oriental, break up and sprinkle w/ seasnoing packet
1/4 - cup sunflower seeds
1/4 - cup slivered almonds
melt 1/2 stick of butter & toss all. Bake @350 in shallow pan for 20 min. One hour before serving - Toss 1 pkg Brococoli Slaw and 6 green onions chopped.
Dressing
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tblsp Soy sauce
Toss all together and serve

This was really good.

It was a great dinner!

Happy Eating!!

Tonights dinner was not completely unedible, but it is definitely not something I would be amazed at! It was however, a good lead to a possible great recipe.

I made pasta (spaghetti) and made the artichoke and sundried tomato chicken stuffing to go with it as a sauce. Well, it is not a sauce and the parmesan cheese should have been sprnkled over the top instead of added into the mixture because it "clumped" up really bad. The flavor was great. The texture, not so good! I will attempt it again and try to change it up a little to have more of a sauce texture.

I know it isn't an actual recipe, but I am pretty proud of myself for trying new things in the kitchen. I am really excited about making new dishes from the techniques I have learned (even the ones I haven't quite mastered)!

Happy Eating!!

Yesterday I made Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/artichoke-and-sun-dried-tomato-stuffed-chicken-breast-recipe/index.html

Though my chicken breast rolls did not look as pretty as they were supposed to, they were delicious. I also made some oven fries and hubby put a little green salad together. Very tasty dinner. I will be making this again and hopefully my rolling skills will improve each time I try.

Happy Eating!!

OK, so this summer time cooking thing is going to be hard!!

Hubby got home yesterday from a week in Wisconsin and while he was gone, Toni and I went out to eat or she was with friends. Last night I turned to a recipe I learned durning this adventure - Shnitzel. One of hubby's favorites. I did "create" a new side dish to go with it. I was hunting in the pantry for something to go with it and decided to make rice. I had that 90 second, plain white microwave rice and added some olive oil mayo and roasted garlic. Not a lot just enough to give it flavor. Added a little salt and hubby said he liked it. That is a new staple for my pantry. I am very pleased with micro rice!!

Happy Eating!

Happy Father's Day!! Today I had a request for Meatball Subs http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/meatball-subs-recipe/index.html so that is what I made. I made the meatballs and the marinara sauce. This is my favorite marinara sauce. I usually do not like red sauce because it seems to sweet. This was easy and quick to make and it tasted soooo good! Hubby loved it. Time has certainly been scarce since school let out and it seems like we are always either on the go or at work. Thank goodness we are busy though, it reminds us to appreciate those times when I do have time to get in the kitchen and make something. This was really a great recipe and not too hard. I felt that calm I seem to get when I am creating in the kitchen while I was putting the recipe together.

Happy Eating!!

It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to make something, but I finally got the chance yesterday. Summer isn't even here yet and it seems like we are always busy with something! Well, back into the kitchen I go. I am very happy that I chose to make something new when I was home, rather than setting it up to make something new every day (that was my original plan). That would have been extremely dissapointing, because I would have set my self up for failure. Last night I made Grilled Delmonico Steaks http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grilled-Delmonico-Steaks/Detail.aspx?src=rss

They were pretty good, but if your family does not like Rosemary, don't bother with this one. Girlie was polite, but now I know she does not like it! Hubby is ok with it but not one of his favorite flavors. Oh well, live and learn.

Happy Eating!!

Oh wow, this past weekend was just a whirlwind! Had a house full of teenagers. Our daughter decided to throw a "School Ended, Summer is Beginning" Party. It was great. She BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers and we ate what was left over (not much since teenagers eat a LOT!). Anyway, after two grueling days at the office-we just upgraded a program that did not seem to like being upgraded-so hubby has took me out to dinner on Monday and Tuesday. I finally made it back into the kitchen today. Tonight I made Thai Mango Sticky Sweet Rice Dessert http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaidesserts/r/thaidessert.htm It was pretty darn good. I made the "saucier" version. I did use frozen mango and did not slice them real thin like they do in the Thai restaurant we usually go to. I put the chunks in and I think I would have prefered thinly slice strips. The flavor of the rice was fantastic! I could not find sticky rice so I used Jasmine rice. I was very happy with the way the rice turned out and now I will adjust this to a savory coconut rice to serve with chicken. I had never thought of cooking my rice in coconut milk. I am a big fan of coconut and am very pleased with this discovery. Hubby's quote for the dish was "It was good, but some things are better left for those special occasions when we go out" (one of our favorite desserts is the Mango Sticky Rice at our favorite Thai restaurant)

Happy Eating!

Tonight's recipe Bacon and Egg Salad http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/bacon-and-egg-salad-recipe/index.html taught me something. It taught me that I can't poach an egg to save my life!! the other day, Tate and Toni made corned beef hash and poached eggs for breakfast and it was so good. My eggs were not very good at all. As hubby said, "It is not something that I would ask for again". Me neither! I am hoping that I can come up with a winner next time. These flops take a toll on me and make me question why I decided to do this.

I know why I decided to do this. To get better techniques and be able to make a tasty meal! At the end of the 365 days, I will make more than one meal that I will be proud to serve my family! I can do this and I WILL do this!

Happy Eating!!

Tonight I made Creamed Beef http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creamed-Beef/Detail.aspx.

Hubby said it sounded like a fancy name for Sh## on a Shingle. He is right! It did turn out really good, but instead of peas (our daughter hates peas), I used a corn, carrot and asparagus mix. I was excited about trying this because of the cream part. It was kinda like a gravy and I was happy to try to make something like that. I aske for a quote from hubby to put on my blog and he said, "It was much better than Sh## on a Shingle"

Happy Eating!!

Today was the first time I ever made a souffle and it actually turned out like a souffle! I am really excited about how it looked. I made Lime Souffle http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/lime-souffle-recipe/index.html

Yes it was a Semi-Homemade recipe, but I had never made one before and was not ready to make one completely from scratch. I put a little too much mint in it, but aside from that it was light, fluffy, and pretty darn tasty. I was very impressed with how pretty they actually looked when they came out of the oven. Have a great night everybody and remember....


Happy Eating!

What a weekend! Busy, busy, busy! Haven't cooked since Friday and I am actually starting to miss it. So many things went on this weekend with the Holiday and birthday parties that I didn't get to get in the kitchen. Well, tomorrow is a new day with hopefully no surprises or last minute family get togethers that will keep me from trying something new.

I have so enjoyed all of my successess, and even my failures, in the kitchen that I can't wait to get back in there! Don't know what I will try tomorrow, but I know I will try womething!

Until then....

Happy Eating!!

Tonights recipe was Melt-In-Your-Mouth-Meat Loaf http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/melt-in-your-mouth-meat-loaf/Detail.aspx

It was really good and very moist. I would have never thought to make a meat loaf in the crock pot, but I was pleasantly surprised. Hubby said the real test will be tomorrow when sandwiches are made from the leftovers. So until tomorrow....

Happy Eating!

Todays recipe was Claire's Spinach Carbonara http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/claires-spinach-carbonara-recipe/index.html

Not one of my favorites, or as hubby put it "Edible, but not one I would be excited about you making again" I think I wasn't too crazy about the rawish spinach and it may have had a bit too much pepper for my taste. I think if I make it in the future, it would definitely need to be tweeked a bit.

Happy Eating!

Today I made a lazy Sunday kind of recipe, Pear Crumble http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pear-crumble/detail.aspx

Very tasty. Because of my issues right now with the broken tooth, I couldn't really eat it, but I did taste a little bit on the good side of my mouth and the flavor was great. Hubby ate it and when I asked him how it was he said, "It is as good as your last pear recipe was bad". He then ate the whole plate and I think he licked it!!

At the end of the baking time I wasn't super happy with the looks of the dish so I sprinkled a little brown sugar and some extra butter on it and broiled it for about 3 minutes.

Happy Eating!!

Today is Friday, and Friday means a house full of teenagers. Today I made Pecan Stuffed Dates http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pecan-stuffed-dates-recipe/index.html

I did not tell them what it was for fear that the teenagers would be grossed out by the thought of eating dates, maybe I should have!! They were delicious and I was hoping to go find some of my tasty little, saty, sweet, crunchy treats left for a midnight snack, but they were all GONE!! I know what I will make next time I have to take something for a party.

Happy Eating!

Todays recipe was Insane Oven Beef Ribs http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Insane-Oven-Beef-Ribs/Detail.aspx

Hubby said they taste just like Korean BBQ. I am very glad he liked them. I had dental surgery yesterday so I didn't actually get to taste the ribs so hopefully there are leftovers on Saturday when I should be able to eat normal food again. He said the taste was spot on and all I needed to do was slap them on the grill before serving and he would feel like he was in a Korean BBQ joint! Very excited that they were tasty. I did taste a little of the sauce on the tip of my finger and I liked it a lot. The house smelled wonderful when they were in the oven. The boiling part was kinda gross looking, but after that was done, everything went smooth.

So glad I have another successful recipe.

Happy Eating!

So again, no new recipe. We went to an awards banquet where our fabulous daughter won an award for all of her hard work in her drafting class!! Woohoo!! :-) Very proud of her!!

No new recipe tonight, we went to Akamaru for dinner with Mom and Dad for Hubby's birthday. As always, Sano outdid himself. I love going to Akamaru. We have been Sano fans for at least 13 years. Love him!! If you ever go to Akamaru in Visalia, CA, when you leave tell the chef "See you tomorrow" and he will know you are a friend of mine.

Anyway, my belly is full from fantastic sushi, sashimi, fabulous baked mussels, Kirin - on tap - and I need to go lay down. Have a great evening and....


Happy Eating!!

My recipe today was Marie-Claude's Orange Cake http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Marie-Claudes-Orange-Cake/Detail.aspx

This was an interesting cake. It was edible, but I think it has inspired me to try to tweak the recipe just a little. I will make it in a smaller pan next time and I will serve it with whipped cream. It caught my eye because it is made with oranges and we have a lot of oranges.

Happy Eating!

Oh my CHEEZITS! I love shnitzel. Dinner tonight was fantastic. Hubby loved his birthday dinner ad I COOKED IT!! I am so proud of myself. I am not sure what I will be making tomorrow, but I will be making something. Shnitzel is so easy to make and it was so good. I used pork, Tate isn't crazy about veal. And the Authentic German Potato Salad was perfect with it. This will definitely be one of my favorites.

Happy Eating!

Ok, this is not a new recipe, I have made it in the past, but it will go with the shnitzel so I decided I should post it.

Authentic German Potato Salad
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/authentic-german-potato-salad/detail.aspx

Very yummy!

Happy Eating!

OK, we did not have left overs for dinner. Instead, I picked up some frozen crab cakes and defrosted some shrimp (learned this from my mom - soak frozen cooked shrimp in salt water and it tastes great) for a quick, easy meal. Hubby put together a sauce that we have been trying to recreate from one of our favorite Japaneese restaurant for the crab cakes and I ended up using it for the crab cakes and the shrimp. I am not a huge fan of cocktail sauce. It was a great dinner and we watched The Musketeer. It was a wonderfully, fantastic, easy dinner for just the two of us.

Happy Eating!

We really liked the Asian Ginger Dressing. I have never used fresh ginger root before, but I think I will use it more often. Smelled fantastic and the dressing was great. The one thing I would do different is to dress the cabbage earlier and let it marinate a while before serving. We put everything together and ate immediately and since I used cabbage as the greens, it didn't soak up the flavor as much.

I am still not feeling well so I am taking tonight off - gotta finish the leftover chicken and beans - but tomorrow I will be making something special for hubby's birthday - German Schnitzel http://www.thelifeingermany.com/2007/11/german-schnitzel-recipe.html

I will probably make some German potato salad to go with it.

Happy Eating!

The beans are delicious! I have never made beans that did not involve a can opener before so I am very excited that they actually turned out great. We had them with our chicken tacos, which I got cabbage to go in and since I have chicken left and cabbage left, tomorrow's recipe will be Asian Ginger Dressing http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=49923&origin=detail&servings=20

Happy Eating!

Ready to be back in the kitchen. After a great Mother's Day weekend and then being sick for a couple of days, I am soooo ready to make a new recipe. Todays recipe is Best Black Beans http://mexican.betterrecipes.com/best-black-beans.html This I will serve with tacos made with a rotisserie chicken (my always faithful protein).

Happy Eating!

Tonight we will be having Smothered Steak Strips. http://www.momof9splace.com/crockpot.html

Dinner is already in the crock pot and I am looking forward to a tasty treat.

Happy Eating!

My Favorites

I will post my favorites every two weeks. This is my list of favorites from the past two weeks.

Mushrooms Stuffed with Brie
Cheesy Orzo
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Spring Chicken Salad

Happy Eating and Happy Mother's Day!!

The chicken was moist and most important, cooked all the way through! Woohoo, I have made a chicken that wasn't a recipe for food poison. I wasn't crazy about the seasonings. It wasn't bad, but nothing fantastic either. This morning I made chicken salad sandwiches with it and they were good. I added some mayo, mustard, bbq sauce (Baby Ray's), and a little celery for crunch. The sandwiches were very yummy.

I am getting a cold and since it is Mother's Day tomorrow, I have decided to go to bed and not cook anything tonight. Tomorrow I might put something together, but tonight it is a free for all dinner at our house.

Happy Eating!

I totally violated a chicken!!! I found a recipe for Oven Barbecue Beer-Can Chicken http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1185386 and it is in the oven. Tate loves BBQ chicken and all of my attempts at BBQ chicken have failed so far. I am hoping this is the one!

Happy Eating!

I really liked the Corn Pudding. Tate would like me to sweat the onions a little next time and Toni ate what was left when she got home from her meeting. All in all, I would say it was a rather successful dish. I got some fried chicken from Save Mart and a bag of salad to go with it all and I think it came together quite nicely. Tomorrow I am going to attempt a beer can chicken. I have the chicken in the fridge, bought some canned beer and am really excited about using my "beer can chicken rack". One of my purchases on my weekend shopping trip.

I will search for a recipe and let you all know in the morning.

Happy Eating!

OK, very loooonnnnnngggg day at work and I sent Toni to the store for the rest of the items I needed for the corn pudding, only I forgot to add cream cheese to the list!! Very angry at myself and feeling a little dissappointed that I didn't just run to the corner an get cream cheese. Needless to say, I did not make anything new today. :( I will finish kicking myself a little more and then in the morning I will find a recipe to go with left over steak. (Steaks were very yummy. I have a great hubby!) Since I screwed up on the side for the night, oh and I forgot to have Toni get salad, we had refried beans and cheese with the T-Bone's.

Happy Eating everyone......

MMMMMmmmmmmmmm......Cheesy Orzo=Good. This is definitely a side dish that I will make again. Even though Tate had already eaten, I made him try it. After one spoonfull he said it would be better if it was warmer (it had cooled off by the time he tasted it) and after three more spoonfulls, he said he would eat it again. Toni said she wasn't hungry and after eating about five spoonfulls said it was good. I like this recipe a LOT! It was easy, quick and very tasty. Tomorrow I will be making the corn pudding to go with the steaks and a salad.

Happy Eating!

New recipe for tonight. Hubby won't be home in time for dinner and I want to wait for him for us to have the T-Bone steaks. Now I will be making a Cheesy Orzo http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/cheesy-orzo-recipe/index.html

Since it will just be me and Toni for dinner, we will have some chicken patties and orzo.

Happy Eating!

Tonights recipe is going to be a side to go with T-Bone Steaks. Corn Pudding Recipe : Food Network Kitchens : Food Network


I will let you know how it turns out.

Happy Eating!

Ok, it was a four day weekend! I am home now and I had a great time. I am excited about tomorrow. Even though I am not sure what I will be cooking, I now I will be cooking something so I will be posting a recipe in the morning.

Happy Eating!

The Brie Stuffed Mushrooms were delicious! Since tomorrow is my birthday, I will not be cooking and I am going outlet shopping with my aunt this weekend so I guess I am taking a three day weekend. Everybody have a great weekend and remember....

Happy Eating!

Tomorrows recipe will be Mushrooms Stuffed with Brie. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/11/mushrooms-stuffed-with-brie/

This was suggested by a very good friend. Thanks Martha! If it doesn't work out I am sending hubby to her house for dinner :-}

I am looking forward to next week as we have a freezer full of beef and I am hoping to find new, creative ways to fix it. (You can only eat so much Hamburger Helper before it starts to get old)

Happy Eating!

OH MY CHEEZITS!! That Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie is delicious!! Hubby loved it. He said our daughter is going to be mad at me because I made it when she wasn't home. I will have to make it again, soon, because he is going to tell her all about it. Thank you Pioneer Woman. I have battled the Kryptonite and won!!!

Happy Eating!

I am going to take on the Kryptonite! Tonight I will be making Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/another-pie/

Hubby loves my chocolate peanut butter cookies, so I am hoping he at least likes this, or that I, at least, don't screw it up. It looks tasty and I am not as crazy about chocolate and peanut butter as he is so I should be safe. If I am going to be eating a lot this next year, I have to make sure and plump him up!

Happy Eating!

Very yummy! Hubby did request a little less pepper next time, made us sweat a little, but the overall flavor was darn good. I really like the spicy bbq sauce with the mildness of the pasta. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, or if I would like it, but I will make this again.

If I find a recipe tonight for tomorrow, I will post, if not I will let you all know in the morning.

Happy Eating!

Tonight we will be having BBQ Spaghetti. Recipe courtesy The Bar-B-Q Shop http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bbq-with-bobby-flay/bbq-spaghetti-recipe/index.html

Hubby loves bbq and he loves spaghetti, so today I will combine the two! I have heard of bbq spaghetti a lot and am looking forward to putting this together. I will let you all know how it turns out.

Happy Eating!

The salad was great! Couple of things that weren't quite right with it. Hubby picked up regular yogurt instead of Greek (no luck finding it at Food 4 Less). The tang of the Greek, I think, would have done wonders for the dressing, but it wasn't bad. Also, he couldn't find fresh tarragon at Food 4 Less and got dried. Again, not horrible, but I think the fresh would have been better. I really liked all of the flavors. The radish, the bell pepper, the cucumbers, and the potatoes worked great together.

After a long day, I was totally transformed and relaxed once I started putting it all together. I will do a little research tonight, not to the point of falling asleep at the computer again, and hopefully come up with something interesting for tomorrow. If I don't find it tonight, I will look in the morning and let you all know.

Happy Eating!!

Had a great weekend with the family doing nothing but being lazy, laughing and talking. Now, back to better cooking! Tonights recipe is Spring Chicken Salad. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/spring-chicken-salad-recipe/index.html

I am very excited about this because it calls for making your own dressing, which I have never done. It should a beautiful sunny day today, so I think this salad with a nice glass of Vinho Verde should be delicious, light, and fabulous.

Happy Eating!

Taking the weekend off from cooking. Actually, there are way too many left overs in the fridge that we need to get through. Have a great weekend everyone. Happy Eating!

The bacon was a success. The Holiday Bacon Bites were ok. They did look like the picture and the house did smell amazing. The looks of love from my child and husband came from them walking into the kitchen as I was frying the half a pack of bacon I had left from putting together the appetizers. I was teasing them telling them the appetizers would be ready in two hours and the rest of the bacon would be used for breakfast. My daughter said, "You can not tease us like that! It is not right to make bacon right in front of us and then say we can't have any!!"

I asked Tate to finish frying the bacon and, Toni and I sat on the counter while he did. That was the absolute best part of the day! The three of us in the kitchen enjoying the smell of bacon, talking about our day, and laughing together. I love bacon!!

Today is Friday and there are always teenagers in the house on Friday night, so my recipe today will be Holiday Bacon Appetizers http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/flashback_1981_-_holiday_bacon_appetizers/ This is from The Pioneer Woman website and sounded tasty. The fact that I will probably have a house full of teens and I have had a 50% failure rate so far, helped me choose this recipe. It is very simple, but my family LOVES bacon. I don't make it very often and one day I was frying up some bacon for blt's and my husband came home early. The look of pure love on his face was amazing. He said I was the perfect woman for having bacon frying when he got home from work. The effect on my daughter is almost the same.

Happy Eating!

I am filled with disgust and I have no one to blame but myself. Tonights dessert was a complete disaster! I think it is karma coming to bite me in the butt. I was trying to take the easy way out by doing desserts thinking to myself "how hard can they be? You can make cookies like a pro, desserts will be easy" WRONG!! I am only on the fourth day and I already have a 50% failure rate. Wait, I am only on the fourth day, so maybe I should give myself a little bit of a break. The two dishes that were extremely successful, I thought I would totally screw up. Maybe I was a little cocky in the dessert category and didn't put as much time and love into my cooking. I was stressed putting tonights dessert together and I didn't enjoy it as much as I did last nights baked mac 'n cheese. I am thinking it is time for an attitude adjustment in the kitchen. I think, too, I will stay away from desserts for a little while. I will serve ice cream if the family needs something sweet after a meal for a little while so that I can rebuild my confidence and hopefully one day I can conquer dessert.

Dessert has become my kryptonite!!

I am off to look for a recipe for tomorrow. Happy Eating!!

Found the recipe! I did fall asleep sitting at the computer looking for it last night and was given a ton of grief by the hubby. First, I was talking to the computer when I was looking for recipes, mind you the computer wasn't talking back so I am not crazy - yet. Then I fell asleep while searching for the recipe I had already decided to do. Anyway, the recipe is Apple Crostata with Caramel Sauce http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/apple-crostata-with-caramel-sauce/1136af80f466-4956-9dea-0138807fe48a

I mainly chose this one because I have all of the ingredients here at home. Last night I was thinking "I don't want to go to the grocery store - again!" I know I will have to go to the store again, but really didn't feel up to doing it again so soon. I have been there every day this week. I know it is only Thursday, but it might be time for me to learn how to plan at least a little bit ahead with my recipes.

Happy Eating!

I have decided tomorrow will be a dessert...panic is setting in, but I will overcome this, I hope! Since we have a ton of left over tri tip, I am going to make some burritos or tacos and since I cannot find a recipe for either burritos, or tacos, that calls for left over tri tip, I will make a dessert. My plan is, after all, to try a "new" recipe every day that I am home.

The recipe I will be making tomorrow is an apple dessert. I will find and post info on where it is as I forgot to leave that window open when I opened this one, so I have no idea where the darn thing is. Be back soon!

OH MY CHEEZITS!! I LOVE Baked Macaroni and Cheese. It tastes nothing like that stuff that comes in a box and went fantastic with the very spicy tri-tip. Everyone had seconds. This recipe was a hit for sure. I had a really stressful day today and when I got home I started putting all of the ingredients together and by the time it was ready to go in the oven, I was completely stress free! This whole cooking thing might actually be a good idea. I will do a little research tonight and decide which recipe to use tomorrow. Happy Eating!!

Day three and I am very excited about todays recipe. I have decided to make Baked Macaroni and Cheese, recipe courtesy Alton Brown. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html I have always wanted to make baked mac and cheese so I am very excited about it. I think it will go great with the tri-tip as long as it turns out like it is supposed to. I think I will do a little salad with it as well so we aren't eating just a whole bunch of artery clogging goodies! Happy Eating!

uggh...tonights dessert was not too great. It was from http://easy-french-food.com and was called Tarte choco-poire. Basically it was a chocolate pear tart. Definitely not one of my proudest moments when it came time to serve it. I was very dissappointed in how it turned out. Toni didn't even try it, but Tate was a trooper. I will not let it discourage me. Tomorrow I am going to make a side dish to go with tri-tip that I have thawing in the fridge. The tri-tip is preseasoned and came from Trader Joe's so I won't be blogging about that, but I will be searching for some sort of side dish to go with it. I hope that I can keep myself motivated and continue with my adventure. Happy eating everyone (or just my one follower)!

Well, this is day two. My daughter decided we should get Wendy's for dinner tonight, not because she hated what I made last night, but because she has been craving it. Tonight I will make a dessert. My reasoning for creating this blog is so that I will not give up on this. I am determined to learn some new skills in the kitchen. Since I don't want torture my family and we do have things that we already enjoy eating (they love cheddar dog night), I decided that as long as it is a new recipe - main course, appetizer, side, dessert, etc. - that would work for my plan. I am going to figure out a way to keep all of the recipes I use and maybe make myself a book at the end of the year to see all that I learned. I am very excited about this and even if nobody ever reads this, I think it will be great for me.

Well, here we go. I have never been a great cook, so after watching the movie "Julie & Julia", I was inspired to try something. I am going to try a new recipe every day that I am home. It doesn't matter if we get take out, or my husband cooks, or our daughter cooks, or we have leftovers, I will try a new recipe-appetizers, desserts, side dishes, main courses. It may not be 365 recipes as I am not always home, but it will be an adventure. I started tonight. I made a "Weekday Cassolet" courtesy of Melissa D'Arabian who currenty hosts 10 dollar dinners with Melissa D'Arabian. My family absolutely loved it. I was a little worried that I would screw something up and it would be horrible, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I guess I should explain a little bit about why I decided to take on this adventure. My mother and grandmother are/were excellent cooks. My grandmother has passed, but I love my memories of her feeding so many people at her house, and never being stressed if one more showed up! She was amazing. Her fried chicken was so delicious and always was prepared with love and always made me laugh. My grandmother wore glasses and had a habbit of pushing them up by placing her thumb and index finger on the inside, upper portion of the lenses, regardless of what was on her fingers. On fried chicken day, she always had to little circles of flour on her glasses. One of my most fond memories of such a loving person.

Now my mother, she can prepare a feast made for kings! She has never had any professional training, but is, by far, one of the most talented chefs I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. She, too, does not get stressed by an extra person showing up for a meal. Her culinary skills are amazing to me.

I, on the other hand, have not inherited the wonderful skills in the kitchen that both my mother and grandmother possess/possessed. My brother did. I am pretty much a sad case in the kitchen, but I have been doing my best to improve my skills. This blog, hopefully, will keep me on task and learning something new every day in the kitchen that I am home.

I will maintain this blog for 365 days and hope to learn a lot!