Food Wishes

Rick and I have found a new cooking website that I though y'all might appreciate. It's foodwishes.com. Chef John posts a new recipe nearly every day, and he includes a video clip of himself preparing the dish. We have tried several of his recipes and found them all to be easy and yummy.

(You know I wouldn't send you a difficult recipe, right? Shoot, no! We have better things to do than fretting over a meal.)

To name a few, we have tried Penne Pasta with Vodka Sauce, Chicken Stir Fry, and (our favorite thus far) Green Chicken Enchiladas.

Go on over the check it out for yourself. Come back to tell me what you're going to try.

Brought to You By the Color Green

There's this time of day that I've grown to hate.

Lunch.

A few months ago, I was in this same boat and revamped our lunch menu to help us step beyond PB&J. We began to eat things like bean and cheese quesadillas, homemade pizzas, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Nothing gourmet, granted. Just a little branching out.

But even that has grown old. If it weren't for the throwing of fits due to low blood sugar, I would just skip lunch altogether.

And I may or may not be speaking of my own low blood sugar. Unfortunately, my family knows the truth. Ahem.

Liam has also gotten bored with lunch. He won't even eat a sandwich of any kind anymore.

At 12:00 this afternoon, I knew we were headed for disaster if I didn't whip up something quickly. I asked Liam, "What do you want for lunch? I have some chicken left from last night, so I can make chicken quesadillas. Or I can make chicken salad sandwiches."

Silence.

Large almond-shaped eyes rolled up to me as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"

I have no idea where he learned that eye-rolling business.

"Well, what would you like, Liam?"

"How about chicken and spinach salad?"

"You mean you're asking for a bed of spinach salad covered with rotisserie chicken, blue cheese, craisins, walnuts, and poppy seed dressing," I asked in sheer shock.

"Yes, I like that," my little man replied.

I ran to the kitchen to fill the man's order before he had second thoughts. And I made 4 plates, because I'm no short order cook.

Here's proof:
Please excuse the green hue to these photos. We have a new camera, and I need to sit down to read the manual. But who has time for that?

Yes, that's a gourmet salad served on a Wal Mart special paper plate. We're classy like that.

Those almond eyes? Here they are:
I think lunch might be more enjoyable now that we're branching out. PB&J? Who needs it? We've got spinach and chicken salad.

LOOK! Another Recipe!

Some of y'all will remember that I do not share recipes very often for the mere fact that I am not some fancy chef. When I do take the time to share a recipe with y'all, you better grab up some paper and pen and take some serious notes. Because if I can do it, you can do it!

I happened upon a recipe for Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders in last March's edition of Southern Living. Typically, I steer away from any recipes that call for "dredging" any type of raw meat into a bowl of flour and another bowl of raw eggs.

My mother refers to this flaw in me as "Miss Nasty Nice". Get my hands dirty? No, thank you.

But when I saw the photo of the finished chicken tenders last March, I knew I had to clip that recipe and give it a whirl. I was scared to death to try it, but after I talked myself into trying it the first time, my family has been hooked on homemade chicken tenders.

Are you ready to get your hands dirty?

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders
(I've tweaked the recipe slightly from the original article.)
16 saltine crackers, finely crushed (The boys loved to smash the crackers inside a baggie.)
1/4 cup pecans, ground
2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 egg whites (or the whole egg if you're feeling dangerous)
cooking spray (Make sure you have plenty. I mean, like, at least 1/2 can.)
1 1/2 lb. chicken tenders
1/2 cup flour

1. Preheat over to 425 degrees.
2. Stir together crushed crackers and next 4 ingredients.
3. Beat eggs in separate bowl.
4. Place a wire rack coated with cooking spray on top of a parchment-paper lined 15 x 16 inch jelly-roll pan. (If you're a novice like me, you're saying, "A what on top of a what? Huh?" Don't be discouraged! You can do this.)
5. Dredge (Uck! That word still gives me chills.) chicken tenders in flour; dip in egg white, and dredge in saltine mixture. Coat chicken on each side with cooking spray. Arrange chicken on wire rack.
6. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes. Flip the tenders and bake 8 more minutes.
7. Serve with mashed potatoes, gravy, and a green veggie.
Go ahead and give it a whirl! Your family will love you!

Jack's Idea of Dinner

I'm happy to be back in the saddle of blogging again. I can't exactly say that I have come out of writer's block unscathed, but at least I have some photos to share. I'm hoping that posting those photos will get the writing wheels of my mind rolling again.

Two nights before Thanksgiving, Rick was expected to come home late, which I used as an excuse to skip cooking dinner. The kids don't care how long I slave in the kitchen, so why bother?

Around 5:30pm, I asked Jack ( age 3 11/12), "What do you want for dinner?" He responded with, "Hmm, wet me see. I'w be wight back."

A moment later, I could hear some scrounging around in the refrigerator. I thought I better check on him, and this is what I found on the counter:
From left to right: a bowl of leftover mashed potatoes with 2 clementines, a bag of sliced bell peppers, bread, a lemon, an apple, feta cheese, shredded colby/monterrey jack cheese, and sour cream.

"J-Man, whatchya doin'?"

"I'm getting dinner weady."

"Well, that looks delicious, but I was thinking of grabbing some burgers."

"OKAY!" [insert scampering of three boys' feet to see who could get shoes on first]

"Don't worry, Jack. I'll just put this food back in the fridge by myself. No, really, I got it. No problem."

I feel certain that the energy I put forth on cleaning up that mess negated the burger, fries and cherry limeade I devoured that night. I also feel certain that Sonic meal had nothing to do with the 4 extra pounds on my scale this week.

Hope you're having a good week and remaining sane with the holiday rush. I hope to be back in another day or so.

LOOK! Another RECIPE!

Rick discovered an EASY peanut butter cookie recipe last week that I must share with y'all.

Notice how I didn't say that I discovered it? That would be because I was sick the night that Rick decided he MUST! HAVE! PEANUT! BUTTER! COOKIES! Liam and I both had a stomach bug last week. It was not the least bit fun, and it was only complicated by the smell of freshly baked PB cookies floating around the house.

Liam and I survived, and I can tell you that these PB cookies are a must for the healthy belly. (The not-so-healthy bellies might want to wait a day or two.)

Ingredients:
1 cup PB
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Mix the above ingredients. Roll the mixture into small balls. Roll the PB balls in a bowl of sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes. They will be soft when done. Do not overcook!

They are so yummy and easy to bake that you'll want to make them again the next day. Not that I would know personally or anything. Enjoy!

LOOK! A RECIPE!

Have you noticed that I don't share recipes with you on this here blog? That would be for your benefit.

You're welcome.

Cooking and I don't go hand in hand naturally. I informed Rick of this fact on our first date. He still fell for me. What a sucker!

Our second date consisted of Mr. Wonderful cooking a tasty dinner for moi. I was sold at that point.

Within two months, we were engaged. And our prenuptials stated that Rick would handle the cooking, and I would take care of all cleaning.

No, we don't really have prenuptials. But we did make the cooking and cleaning very clear to one another. He didn't want to starve, and I didn't want to live in a pig sty.

And it worked for 7 years. About two years ago, however, I began feeling convicted that I should really be trying to pull my weight in the kitchen. Why should Rick work away from the home all day and come home to slaving away at the stove?

I began slowly by cooking easy meals, such as spaghetti. Over time, I've expanded my repertoire considerably.

But that doesn't mean that it's been an easy transition. There was a period of time where, I swear, the stove screamed at the horror of seeing me. There were numerous burned meals. Too many to count.

But the stove and I have made amends, and we get along much better now. I am a far cry from being an expert, and that is why I don't share recipes with you. I'm sure most of you are much more experienced in the kitchen, and I wouldn't want to insult your cooking intelligence.

Anyway, I mentioned yesterday that we enjoyed fried fish and homemade vanilla ice cream on the 4th. Yours truly tried her hand at making ice cream for the first time ever! (I did not, however, fry the fish. That would have been classified as overachieving.)

I was very nervous about making ice cream. I told my sister-in-law and brother-in-law that if it didn't turn out correctly, I would run to the store for some Blue Bell. Some of you are probably saying, "Oh, come on, it's so easy." Could you please humor me and pretend to be impressed?

For those looking for an oh-so-yummy homemade vanilla ice cream recipe, here it is. Drum roll please.

Ingredients for a 6 quart ice cream maker:
6 eggs
3 3/4 cup sugar
3 cans evaporated milk
1/2 gallon milk
6 3/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp salt
1 can Eagle brand milk

Directions:
Beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar gradually. Beat until stiff. Add remaining ingredients and mix extremely well. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze using rock salt and ice according to your ice cream maker's directions. (You didn't expect me to spell it all out for you, did you?)

We added chocolate syrup and sprinkles. The house was silent while 8 adults and 7 children devoured a large heap.

Let me know if you try it!

In case you're wondering, I still handle the cleaning, as well. The day I hand that over to Rick, you can go ahead and commit me to the asylum.

Cooking Confessions

I hate cooking! I also hate planning every week's menu. But I do it every week...plan, that is. Thankfully, Rick helps me cook some meals.

As I was trying to come up with some meals last week, I ran into this recipe site called Taste of Home Recipe Finder. This site is my new best friend. Well, I do have real friends, but I really like this new one.

I took three recipes from it and have cooked two thus far. Both have gone well for me in the cooking department. (Err, actually, Rick cooked last night's meal, but I had every intention of doing it myself. Really, I did. I just got a little distracted by this thing called the Internet.)

I didn't tell you that this post was about confessions. Sorry. I confess that I let this computer get in the way of feeding my family in a timely manner last night. There. I said it. Moving on.

At any rate, the first two meals we've tried (Ravioli Chicken Casserole and Asian Beef Noodles) have tasted great. You should go browse their recipes to see what you think. I personally really like the feature they call My Recipe Box, where you can save any recipes you want to try. From there, you can also print the recipes, if you like.

Me personally, I like to have the computer on the kitchen counter while I read the recipe instead of printing it off and wasting trees. It also allows me to, you know, check my blog and emails.

Yes, I confess to that, too. I pause cooking my family's meal to check my blog. It's an addiction.

Go look for a new recipe and leave me a comment for which meal you want to try first! We're having Cheesy Turkey Burgers tonight.

Because There Aren't Enough Hours in the Day

I need to skip out on the blogging world today. The time that I usually spend in Bloggityville needs to be spent on some important things this afternoon. (I'm not sayin' that this blogging world is not important, because it is truly how I stay sane most days.) However, there are some things that must be done from time to time like preparing dinner and cleaning house. I am certain that I will not get it all done today, because there are not enough hours in which I can scrub three toilets and showers, vacuum two stories, mop all the tile floors, dust, and what else was it, oh, prepare dinner! But I'm off to get started. I'll be back tomorrow, or later today, if I give up and decide to blog anyway.

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Eating Healthier

Shannon has asked that this week's edition of WFMW be a healthy recipe. Y'all, cooking is not my "cup of tea". I cook, because my family needs to eat something besides hot dogs, but nearly every meal that I cook contains at least one mistake. It's no joke that I frequently poke fun of myself at the dinner table by saying, "Mommy's done it again. Sorry, boys, but you know that I can't cook without ruining something."

I won't share a recipe with you, because you really don't want me to! I will, however, share a website that I've enjoyed browsing. It's http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/. They give healthy recipes, as well as suggestions in fitness. You can even submit one of your own recipes, and they will consider "healthifying" it for you. It's a user-friendly website, so go on over and check it out!

If you want to hear from cooks with far better culinary skills than I, then see Shannon's blog.