Monday Q & A: March 31, 2008

Good morning from Chattanooga!  I’m working here this week.  So today’s Q & A has to be short and sweet.

Marlene asked if bread flour is just all-purpose flour.  Well, yes and no.  It IS an all-purpose flour meaning you could use in something other than bread.  But it’s super-fine sifted just for making bread.  Does that make sense?

Tammy wanted to know if I would share my slaw recipe.  Tammy, I’m more than happy to share MY slaw recipe with you.  But it doesn’t hold a candle to my Daddy’s slaw!  No way!  No how!  He hand cut his cabbage and hand grated the carrots.  He used just the right amount of mayonnaise, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce to make it perfect.  Mine pales in comparison.  But one day, I’ll share what I do, even if it is completely inferior!  LOL

Pamela wanted to know the difference between Qdoba and Chipotle.  Personally, I wouldn’t know because I’ve only been to Qdoba.  Thanks to Kim for answering that!

We had a newbie pop in this week.  A HUGE welcome to Jo!  Jo, yes, I carry on like this all the time!  So please do stay!  :o)  I carry on a lot, as it turns out!

OK, I told you short and sweet this morning!  Hopefully I can do more later.  But if I disappear on you this week, I’m in another region reviewing cases and may not get to see the light of day!  LOL

See y’all when I see you!  :o)  Have a great week!  Love to the masses!  Amy, out!

Let’s Bake!

I love to bake!  Cakes, cookies, brownies, breads.  You name it!  And I love to bake it! 

A few years ago, I was involved in an online forum specifically for moms.  It was actually the first place I “discovered” when we got internet service years ago.  Man, did it change my whole world!  That particular forum is long-since defunct.  But it left me with many friendships that I will treasure the rest of my life.  And it certainly left me with some amazing recipes!

This moms forum really opened up the world for a small-town Southern girl!  I heard about fabulous new things on a daily basis.  One of those “things” was about an eatery called “Cinnabon.”  I’d never heard of such!  I learned it’s a cinnamon roll shop.  We sure don’t have one here in Podunk!  Cinnamon rolls around here come in a “whop ’em” can (like biscuits) or they come from the pseudo-bakery in the local grocery store.  I say pseudo-bakery because the vast majority of “bakeries” in our local stores have their items shipped in from somewhere and don’t do any actual baking.  It’s what my friend Christie calls “brought on” stuff.  Not real.  Nobody’s actual hands touched it and made it.  FAKE!  Thus, “pseudo” baked goods.

So I had not a foggy clue what “Cinnabon” was.  Nearly 11 years later, I KNOW what Cinnabon is and have actually tasted the cinnamon rolls there.  But the problem is, I tried a homemade “copycat” recipe for Cinnabons before I ever had the real thing.  And in all honesty, I think the homemade is FAR better than the real thing.  Not that real Cinnabons aren’t good, mind you.  They are.  VERY good!  But if I can make cinnamon rolls at home that are as good and not have to drive 2.5 hours to the nearest Cinnabon, then YEE HAW!  And if you can make a whole PAN for what one single one would cost, DOUBLE YEE HAW!

Truly, these cinnamon rolls are the best I’ve ever had.  Most cinnamon rolls are just dry to me.  These cinnamon rolls I’m about to share with you are so moist and delicious!  You’ll want to slap your Pappy!  Just feed him one of these cinnamon rolls and he’ll forget you ever slapped him!  Guaranteed!

So let’s make them! 

Rock-Your-Face-Off Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:

*  1/2 cup butter, melted

*  1/4 cup water

*  1/2 pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix (3.4 oz size)

*  1 cup milk, room temperature

*  1 egg, well beaten

*  1 Tbsp. sugar

*  1/2 tsp. salt

*  4 cups bread flour OR all-purpose flour

*  1 pkg. yeast

Filling:

 *  1/2 cup butter, softened but NOT melted

*  1 cup brown sugar

*  2 tsp. cinnamon

Frosting:

*  4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

*  1/4 cup butter, room temperature

*  1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

*  1/2 tsp. vanilla

*  1 1/2 tsp. milk

Mix all the dough ingredients together and knead 10 minutes.  I use my Kitchen-Aid to do the work for me on this.  However, you can also make these in a bread machine set to the dough cycle or you can do it the old-fashioned way and knead it by hand.  I’m WAY too lazy to do that!  But if you’re not lazy like I am, knock yourself out!

Butter the surface you plan to use to roll these out.  Trust me.  This will save you much heartache later!  I like to butter a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper, but you could certainly just butter your fabulous granite countertops…..I just don’t happen to have fabulous granite countertops.  But I’m horribly jealous that YOU do!  At any rate, just make sure whatever surface you roll yours out on is buttered!  Or you’ll be sorry!  Believe me!

Here’s what it looks like when you first put your dough down:

Once your rolling surface is sufficiently greased up, roll your dough out about 17″ long and 10″ wide. 

Slather the butter all over your rolled out dough like this:

Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over the dough, then press it into the butter really well like this: 

 

If you like nuts in your cinnamon rolls, by all means, add some pecans or walnuts or whatever nut you like.  If you like raisins, add those too!  We’re not building rockets here!  You can add the things you like to YOUR cinnamon rolls and nobody will report you to the recipe gestapo! 

Once you have the dough buttered and sugared, roll it up into a log. 

 

Slice the log into about 18 slices. 

 

You can do more or less depending on how many cinnamon rolls you want to make or how thick you like your cinnamon rolls.  As you can see above, I only had 14.  I cut mine really thick!

Now here’s a word of advice for you.  Take it.  Don’t take it.  This is a personal opinion.  I don’t sell Pampered Chef.  But I adore their products!  I think these cinnamon rolls turn out 10 times better baked in their stoneware than in anything else you can bake them.  That is my own opinion as a baker.  But personally, I just wouldn’t bake them in anything else unless every single piece of stoneware I had was broken!  Whatever you choose to bake them in needs to be sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or buttered like crazy because these dudes are STICKKKKKKKKKKKK-Y!  As you can see, I used my Pampered Chef Bar Pan.  That’s what I always use to bake these.  You’re going to want to make sure whatever you use has a lip around the edges because the brown sugar and butter turn to syrup and will run off something that doesn’t have a lip.  Then you’ll have an evil, wicked, mean and nasty mess to clean up in your oven!  Don’t say you weren’t warned!

Place them in a well-greased pan and then cover them with a dish towel until they double in size.  Bake them in a pre-heated 350° oven 15-20 minutes.  Be sure not to overbake them.

Once they’re baked, they’ll look a little something like this:

 Let them cool and frost with frosting……if you can wait until they’re cool.  They rarely make it to a cooled state in this house.  The ankle biters and that tall skinny man that live here just can’t stay out of them.  And I also have a crazy dog that’s addicted to anything with cinnamon in it.  He thinks it’s his very own doggie crack!  So when I bake these or anything else with cinnamon in it, Charles Edward William Harry (Hairy) Dog is pressed up against the door patiently (or not-so-patiently!!!) waiting his turn for a cinnamon crack treat! 

And that’s Rock-Your-Face-Off Cinnamon Rolls, friends and neighbors!  Bake some for your loves today!  Or at least Saturday morning!!!!  Or hey, Sunday morning before church and then take some to your Sunday School class and you’ll be the very favorite person in the room!

Enjoy!  I’m off to bake cupcakes now!  I have to strike bake while the iron oven is hot!  I have real-life people addicted to my cake (Fat Babysitter and my SIL!) so I must provide them with THEIR crack!  See y’all tomorrow! 

Chicken Chile Verde

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD Wednesday morning to you, friends and neighbors!  And a glorious morning, it is!  The sun is shining here in TN, bright and beautiful!  I love days like this!  It makes me feel like all is well with the world!

So let’s talk food, how ’bout?  A couple weeks ago, I did something I’ve never done before………I ate at Whole Foods.  Y’all already know about my deep and abiding love for that place already.  But I’d never eaten anything from those amazing-looking food bars.  So when I was there a couple weeks ago with my friend Candy, who had never been to a Whole Foods EVER, we decided to eat lunch there. 

I’ve got to tell you, choosing what to put on my plate was torturous!  I walked around looking for just the right thing because you pay by weight, not item!  YIKES!  Do you have ANY idea how hard it is for a fat girl to walk around picking food knowing she’s going to have to pay for it BY THE POUND?!?!!  That was no easy task!

I finally ended up with Chicken Chile Verde, some whole roasted garlic cloves, some sauteed peppers and onions and a little rice.  OH MY WORD!  That Chicken Chile Verde was a festival in the mouth!  I can’t even describe the amazing flavor it had!  So since then, I’ve become obsessed with trying to recreate it at home! 

And today, that’s just what I did, along with some Cilantro Lime Rice and a Southwestern Layered Salad. 

So here’s what I was forced to do……..I had to buy Salsa Verde.  Salsa Verde is made with tomatillos.   The folks at Kroger looked at me like I smoke crack when I asked for tomatillos here in Podunk.  😦  So I just sucked it up, put on my big girl panties and bought a jar of pre-made salsa verde. 

What IS salsa verde, you ask?  Thanks for asking.  It’s, well, green salsa.  Verde is the Spanish word for green.  Aren’t y’all proud of me that I have such a fabulous vocabulary?  It’s green because of the tomatillos and jalapeno peppers.  Tomatillos look very similar to just a green tomato, but they have a husk on the outside of them and they’re fairly small.  They’re also very tangy.  Our local Mexican restaurant has some AMAZING salsa verde!  Note to self:  Next time, go buy it from La Potosina!  DUH!  Don’t y’all just love this internal monologue I’m having with myself this morning?  Yeah, me too!  Let’s move on!

I wanted my chicken to take on the flavor of the salsa, but I didn’t want it to fall all to pieces by cooking in the salsa alone.  So what I decided to do was par-grill the chicken before simmering it in the salsa to finish it off.

I sprinkled the chicken breasts with some lime pepper, then grilled them about 6 minutes on each side, just to sear them and get pretty grill marks on them.  Then I put them in a baking dish and smothered them in that salsa verde I bought, along with extra garlic, cilantro and jalapenos because I like SPICY! 

The smell of it cooking just about drove me insane!  While it was baking, I put together some side dishes.

A little over a year ago, I made my first trip to Colorado.  A friend took me to eat at Qdoba.  They had this amazing rice they put in the burritos.  I fell in love!  So I’ve recreated it as close as possible.  Here’s what you’ll need:

Cilantro Lime Rice

*  3 cups instant brown rice

*  1 lime, zested and juiced

*  1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

*  3 cloves garlic, minced

*  1/2 tsp. cumin

*  2 tsp. lime pepper

*  1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

Cook brown rice according to package directions, adding the garlic, lime pepper , jalapeno and cumin to the cooking liquid.  When the rice is cooked, fluff with a fork and add lime juice and zest.  Add cilantro just before serving so the residual heat from the rice doesn’t cook the cilantro. 

Here’s how I made the rice:

Here’s my pot of water with the lime pepper, garlic, cumin and finally my jalapeno peppers.

Once it came to a boil, I added in the brown rice.  You can use white rice, if you prefer.  We just like brown rice at my house.

And this is what it looked like ready for the plate.

And we’re having a salad to go along with the chicken and rice.  It’s a recipe I adapted from an old Southern Living recipe.  The original called for Romaine lettuce.  But lettuce makes me need to die.  So I make it with fresh baby spinach, which it healthier anyway!  It’s absolutely beautiful in a tall glass dish!

Southwestern Layered Salad

*  1 pkg. fresh baby spinach leaves

*  5 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

*  1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

*  1 small red onion, diced

*  1 pkg. shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend cheese

*  1 can whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained well

*  1 can sliced black olives, drained well

*  2 cups tortilla chips, crushed

 Salad Dressing:

*  1/3 cup fresh cilantro

*  2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

*  1/2 cup light sour cream

*  1/2 cup fresh lime juice

*  1 tsp. sugar

*  2 cloves garlic

*  1 tsp. lime pepper

*  1 jalapeno, seeded

Mix all ingredients in a blender until well-blended and thickened. 

Layer 1st 7 ingredients in a glass bowl.  Drizzle salad dressing on top immediately before serving.  Top with crushed chips for crunch.

Here are some assembly photos of the salad:

Start with the spinach, then sprinkle Roma tomatoes on top.

With the black beans added……it’s looking yummy!

I LOVE red onions!  I could just stop right now and eat it as is!

And with the corn and black olives added……I forgot to take a picture after I added the olives.  WHOOPS!

All cheesed up and ready for the tortilla chips and dressing.  But you’ll have to wait to see it on the plate!  This is an easy salad to make and is a beautiful presentation!

So, looks like we’re ready to eat now!  I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing all this smelled while cooking/being prepared.  Oh my!  And this is what it looked like all plated up!

Well, that’s about it for today.  I’m hungry now and it’s not lunchtime yet!  Y’all come on back tomorrow!  We’re going to bake!!!  See you then!  Have a great day!

What’s Cookin’ At My House This Week

HOOOOOOOO BOY!  Do I have some sexy food planned at my house this week!  Uh huh!  YEP!  SEXXXXXXXXXXXX-Y food! 

I actually had requests from the various and sundry ankle biters around here this week.  Once in a great while, they actually will ask for specific food.  Most of the time, I can’t get them to come up with a meal idea to save their lives! 

So what did they request this week?  Ankle Biter 1 requested Slaw Dawgs.  Ankle Biter 2 requested Sloppy Joes.  See?  I told you it was going to be super-sexy food at my house this week! 

Ankle Biter 1 gets his love for Slaw Dawgs from his ole mom.  My Daddy made the most amazing slaw EVER.  EVER.  EVER!  Nobody could make slaw as good as his!  When I was growing up, he always grilled steaks for our birthdays.  When I was early into my teens, I asked him to make slaw and grill hot dogs for one of my birthdays.  Then it just became tradition after that.  So AB1 has grown up knowing the joys of a fabulous grilled hot dog smothered in slaw.  And now that it’s gotten prettier weather, he decided we needed to have those one night this week.  So we are!

AB2 gets his love of Sloppy Joes from his daddy.  I like them, but Tall Skinny Man LOVES them.  In all honesty, I never recall eating one until we were married.  It’s just not something I grew up with at my house.  It’s nothing for those skinny male people that live in my house to eat 6 of them EACH!  Them skinny boys EAT, man! 

You know what?  Slaw Dawgs and Sloppy Joes may not be very sexy, but they’re GOOOOOOOOOOD!  And that’s all that matters, right!? 

We’re also having some other stuff this week that IS way sexier!  Here’s the menu for our house this week:

Tuesday:  Sloppy Joes, Macaroni & Cheese, Corn on the Cob

Wednesday:  Chicken Chile Verde, Cilantro Lime Rice, Southwestern Layered Salad

Thursday:  Slaw Dawgs, Baked Beans, French fries

I had another dish planned for this week, but it will have to wait until the weekend because we ended up eating leftovers from Easter last night.  So the other menu got tossed for a few days.  It, along with the recipes for it, will show up here probably around Saturday!  So stay tuned!

And since tomorrow is the Chicken Chile Verde, I’m going to share recipes for my side dishes tomorrow!  So if you like hot and spicy, come back around!  Cuz it’s gonna get hot in here with that sexy food coming up!

Enjoy your day!  It’s a gloriously beautiful spring day out there today!  See you tomorrow!

Monday Q & A: March 24, 2008

Happy Monday morning to you all!  It’s Spring Break here in my neck of the woods!  I’m taking off a couple days this week so the ankle biters and I can do some junk together.  Dunno what kind of junk yet though.  I guess whatever they come up with!  LOL 

I hope you and yours had a joyful Easter!  We certainly did!  We ate and ate and ate!  My goodness, did we eat!  WHEW!  And did I mention that we ate? 

So, let’s jump right into Q & A since it’s Monday.  I shared recipes with you all last week and one got shared with me too!  Donna shared a recipe for Asparagus and Squash Salad.  Well, I can never leave well-enough alone!  LOL  I almost always change up recipes.  I left out the squash altogether.  And I roasted the “spagarious” (if you remember, that’s Ankle Biter 2-speak for Asparagus!) in the oven, drizzled with olive oil and tarragon, then made that salad dressing and drizzled over the top once it was cooked.  HOLY COW, BATMAN!  That was some insane stuff right there!  Thanks for posting that, Donna!  How did you guys like it?

OK, moving right along to some question from last week’s comments:  Marlene wanted to know how TSM and I kept the “stems” from being seen on the edible bouquets we made.  And the answer is “VERY CAREFULLY!”  LOL  Seriously, TSM nearly popped a cork trying to hide them.  We just kept stuffing fruit in various places until you couldn’t see most of the “stems” anymore.  But I am here to tell you that those fruit bouquets were incredible hits!  I was very pleased with how they turned out!

Marlene also wanted to know if the squash in the Squash Casserole recipe I posted still has some crunch left to it.  The answer is yes or no.  LOL  How’s that for a positive answer?  It all depends on how long you decide to cook it.  If you want it with more crunch, don’t bake it as long.  If you don’t want any crunch left at all, bake longer.  The cooking time is just a suggestion for this dish.  You’re basically just getting the squash done to your OWN desired tenderness.  Personally, I like a happy medium on that dish.  I don’t want squash that bites back when I bite into it.  But I don’t want it mushy either.

And finally, Marlene wanted to know about the dessert for Easter.  I ended up doing Carrot Cake because that’s what Ankle Biter 2 asked for.  For some reason, he associates Carrot Cake with Easter.  So that’s what we had.  However, I got multiple suggestions from the tall people around here.  TSM said:  “CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE WITH MORE CHOCOLATE!”  LOL  The man loves his chocolate!  My SIL said, “White on white cake with ‘strawberry goo’ in between the layers!”  My brother said, “HONEYBUN CAKE, OF COURSE!!!!!”  So we had quite diverse dessert requests!  But ultimately, the small-one won out.  So I made a HUGE honkin’ Carrot Cake.  See?

It was rather huge!  LOL  Did I happen to mention it was GINORMOUS?  It was so big it couldn’t be served on a dessert plate.  We had to have dinner plates! 

Here’s the rest of the table:

Pardon the poor quality photo.  The sun was coming in the window and made the photo dark.  When I lightened it up, it made it look grainy and yucky.  But you get an idea!

This end of the table held the Fried Okra, Macaroni & Cheese, Roasted Asparagus with Donna’s fabulous Mustard-Herb Dressing, Sweet Potato Casserole, Ham, Scalloped Pineapple, Stir-Fried Cabbage, and Mashed Potatoes.

This end of the table had the Fried Corn, Broccoli & Cheese, Roasted Carrots with Red Onions and Whole Garlic Cloves, the Roasted Panko Chicken and the Green Beans.

And THIS would be the 3 goobers “patiently” waiting for me to snap pictures before they could dig in:

Left to right is:  Ankle Biter 1, Unk and Ankle Biter 2.

We had quite an Easter celebration at our house!  I hope you all had a fabulous celebration too!

Now, let’s get to some other “stuff.”  WOW WOW WOW at all the “newbies” that came out of the woodwork this week!  Beth Anne is the daughter of my dear friend Candy who gifted me recently with some fabulous softball-sized Texas sweet onions.  WELCOME Beth Anne!  I’m thrilled you popped in!  Don’t be a stranger!

Andrea Baker, a pleasure to have you around as well!  You and I have quite a lot in common with our “yucky” foods!  I LOATHE fungus!  Wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole!  And I have major texture issues with food, coconut being one of those.  Welcome to you!  Just so the rest of you know, Andrea is a fellow Children’s Services cohort. 

 WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME to grisgirl849 and lisaheidrich!  Thanks for stopping by and for sharing some of your Easter plans with me!

It was a phenomenal week around here!  I kept tabs on my stats and one day this week blew my previous “highest traffic” day out of the water by nearly 100 hits!  I was absolutely thrilled to see so many folks at least coming by!  Now some of your lurkers, come out of the woodwork and speak up!  I love to hear from you!

Now go have a fabulous week!  I’ll see you tomorrow with some meal ideas! 

HALLELUJAH! He Is RISEN!

Happy Easter to you all!  This week, I’ve shared some of my favorite side dish recipes that my family enjoys having with our Easter meal.  But today, I want to share something with you that means more to me than food.  WHAT?  There’s something that means more to her than FOOD?!  What is WRONG with her this morning!??!

Yes, there is absolutely something that means more to me than food.  Y’all know I’m not usually very serious around here.  I try to keep it light-hearted.  But this is something that means more to me than anything else.  It’s a living Savior.  If you don’t know Him, I’d love for you to. 

About 2000 years ago, there lived a man who loved you and me so much He was willing to endure not just death, but pure torture before death in order to give us eternal life.  This is a man who lived an entirely sinless life.  Not once in his entire life did he ever lie or cheat or steal or anything else that is sinful.  That’s something I can hardly imagine!

This man carried a wooden cross on his own back.  He wore a crown of thorns on his head.  He had his hands and feet nailed to the cross He had been forced to carry Himself.  He was hung on that cross in between two common thieves to endure a death that you and I can’t even imagine.  All to cover the sins of others, not His own because He had never sinned!

After he finally and mercifully succumbed to death, He was laid to rest in a borrowed tomb.  He remained there three days……until a Sunday morning that you and I call Easter.  On that third day, Jesus conquered death and the grave and walked out alive!  He is risen, indeed! 

God chose to send His only Son to die a horrible, excruciating death so that I could have life for all eternity!  I have two sons and I can’t imagine giving either of them up for someone else.  The very thought absolutely baffles and confounds me.  Because I simply can’t wrap my head around it.  I can’t imagine the kind of love it takes to give up your child for anyone!  But that’s the kind of love Almighty God has.  He was willing to sacrifice His one and only Son for you and for me.

You can call me foolish for my belief.  Call me hokey and stupid if you must.  I call me redeemed!  And very grateful for such a sacrifice.  That’s what Easter means to me.  A very Happy Easter to all of you!   

My Easter Dinner Plans

OK, quit crying!  Now, now!  It’s alright!  I know you’ve all been sitting out there just wringing your hands waiting to find out what I’ll put on my table for Easter.  Come on!  You can admit it! 

Seriously, I am going to share my Easter menu with you finally!  Since it only took me forever and three days to finally come up with what we were having! 

After consulting with the family, we decided to do ham with various fixings.  My sister-in-law had one in the freezer.  So she’s making the ham.  And I’m going to make some good ole Southern food to go with it.

Let’s talk about green beans.  A couple weeks ago, I told you about my new fascination with barely-cooked green beans.  Well, today we’re going to talk about REAL Southern green beans.  The kind good God-fearing people Southern people eat.  And let me just tell you, if you make these with all the pig real Southerners put in them, you BETTER be God-fearing!  Cuz them arteries are clogging just TALKING about real Southern green beans!  So you might want to make sure you know your Maker before eating them.  Just sayin’……….

“Real” Southern green beans are cooked to death.  There is absolutely no crunch left in them.  That would be an abomination!  “Real” Southern green beans preferably came out of someone’s garden, not the friendly neighborhood Kroger down the canned food aisle.  That’s how I grew up.  Moma or Granny or my Daddy went out and picked a 5 gallon bucket (or 12!!!) of green beans, brought them back up to the house where someone (usually ME!!!) sat on the back porch and broke them.  Then they were cooked right then or they were home-canned for the long winters when you couldn’t go out and pick them fresh. 

So back to fixing green beans to go with Easter dinner.  I don’t garden, so I’m forced to buy my green beans in a can from Kroger.  The good news is, they’re already half-dead if they came out of a can from the grocery store.  Most of the work is done for you in that regard.  Unfortunately, that fact also means you have to season them to death to be able to get that authentic slow-cooked Southern flavor.  Fresh really is the way to go if possible.

All pots of green beans in the South start with pork.  We’re not picky.  Bacon is good.  Ham is good.  Fat back is good.  Ham hocks are good.  Salt pork is good.  And if you’re in a pinch and have no actual meat on hand to put in, the grease from the bacon you fried for breakfast will do nicely.  My Granny kept a little silver tin of it on her stove at all times.  It had a little grate in the top to strain the grease before going into the bottom of the tin.  And she used it in so many wonderful things! 

In my family, an onion always went into the green beans too.  If you’re an onion hater, repent!  Get over it and learn that onions are, no doubt, the manna from heaven God sent those folks wandering in the desert a zillion years ago!  Food just tastes better with onions in it!

If you’re waiting for a “real” recipe for Southern green beans with exact measurements, that ain’t gonna happen for you.  I’m sorry.  There’s just no way with real Southern green beans. 

So tomorrow for Easter, we’ll be having the real deal!  And here’s how I plan to do it. 

Old-Fashioned Southern Green Beans

*  4 cans green beans, drained

*  1 large onion, cut into chunks

*  salt and pepper to taste

*  country ham pieces

Pour green beans into a Dutch oven.  Cover with fresh water.  Add as much or as little ham as you like.  I like to use about half a packet of something called “beans and greens seasoning pieces.”  I find it in small packets near the sliced country ham like for biscuits.  The ham is already in little pieces just perfect for adding to your beans or greens.  I’m fairly heavy-handed with the black pepper, but add very little salt because the canned beans are already salted and the ham is VERY salty because it’s country ham which is salt-cured.  Then I add the chunks of onion and simmer for about 3-4 hours.  The water needs to cook down significantly.  There will be little water left when it’s actually time to serve them.

And that’s Southern green beans.  And they’ll be on my table tomorrow alongside the ham.  What else are we having, you ask?  Thanks for asking!  We’re having:

*  Ham

*  Roasted Chicken

*  Mashed Potatoes (because I will NOT be guility of the crime mentioned earlier this week!)

*  Green Beans 

*  Roasted Carrots

*  Broccoli with Cheese

*  Stir-Fried Cabbage

*  Fried Corn

*  Fried Okra

*  Macaroni and Cheese

*  Mayonnaise Muffins

*  Carrot Cake

And there you have my Easter menu!  The smallest ankle biter requested Carrot Cake.  When I asked what everyone wanted for dessert, I got the following answers:

TSM:  CHOCOLATE!  LOTS OF CHOCOLATE!

SIL/Aunt Dee:  White on white cake with strawberry “goo” in between the layers!!!!
Brother/Unk:  Honeybun Cake!!!!

Then they all decided that Carrot Cake would do.  LOL

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s side dish ideas and recipes.  I have certainly enjoyed sharing them with you.  And I’ve very much enjoyed reading your comments about them and hearing some new ideas and having some new recipes posted too!  May your Easter be blessed!  He is Risen!

Happy Easter! Now Let’s EAT!

It’s getting closer now!  Just a couple days away!  Do you have your menu planned?  Ummmmmm, cuz I don’t yet.  By this time, I usually have it long-since planned, the grocery list made and typed up and a few things already on go in the kitchen.  But I am woefully behind this year!  I have got nothing planned yet.  I haven’t even gotten any comments from the family as to what they want this year:  Traditional or Non-Traditional.  It’s going to be awfully hard to eat if it ain’t planned, huh?  Note to self:  Plan Easter dinner TODAY!

Moving right along…….So we’ve been doing some side dishes this week in anticipation of Easter.  I’ve already shared a few of my favorites and some alternatives to the same old-same old. 

Today, I thought I’d do a couple casseroles that I love.  I’m going to just come right out and admit it.  I’m a casserole JUNKIE, man!  I love ’em!  You slap it in a casserole dish and I’m SOOOOOOO THERE!  Whatever “it” might be!  Well, unless it’s fungus or eggplant or something equally nasty like that.  Then I’m not there.

The point is, casseroles are GOOOOOOOOOOOD!  I love them!  And I want to share a few that have become favorites of my family over the years.  I’ve shared some fairly “common” casseroles with you already or some new takes on “common” casseroles.  So I thought I’d give you something new and different today!

Lots of years ago, in the dark ages before the internet, I was forced to find recipes in those old-timey things called books and magazines!  ***GASP***  Oh, the horror of not having every single recipe in the whole entire world at my very keystroke!  I still have nightmares about those neanderthal days!  But I digress!

This first recipe today is one I found eons ago in a magazine or some cookbook somewhere.  I don’t have a clue where I found it, in all honesty.  So if you’re out there reading and this is *your* recipe, by all means, step up and claim it.  In the meantime, I’ve been making it for about 15 years.  It’s got broccoli.  It’s got carrots and cauliflower.  It’s got pimientos.  It’s got a yummy Swiss cheesy sauce to swim in and crunchy French-fried onions on top.  How in the world could it not be fabulous?!  It’s called Swiss Vegetable Medley and here it is:

Swiss Vegetable Medley

*  1 bag frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrot blend

*  1 onion, diced

*  1 can cream of chicken soup

*  1 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided

*  1/3 cup sour cream

*  4 oz. pimientos

*  1 small can French-fried onions

Preheat oven to 350°.  Combine vegetables with soup, sour cream, pimientos,  1/2 cup Swiss cheese and 1/2 the can of French-fried onions.  Mix well.  Pour into a 3 quart baking dish sprayed liberally with non-stick cooking spray.  Bake 30 minutes or until vegetables are desired tenderness.  Sprinkle remaining cheese and French-fried onions across top of casserole in a diagonal pattern.  Return to oven and bake 5 additional minutes to melt cheese and toast onions.  

And that’s Swiss Vegetable Medley!  It’s SO incredibly easy!  And your family or your guests or your whoever will think you slaved over this one!  It goes especially well with chicken dishes!  So you don’t have to wait until Easter or Thanksgiving or some other holiday to make it!  Go ahead!  Try it!  You’ll love it!  I guarantee it!

Now let’s talk about Squash Casserole.  Before I tried this particular Squash Casserole, I just didn’t care much for any I’d tried before.  I had never had one before where the squash wasn’t boiled first.  And I’ve got to tell you, boiled squash heebs me.  The smell is vile.  The texture…….EWWWWWWW!  So I just wasn’t a fan.  And the first time I was presented with this casserole, I almost didn’t try it because I was so prejudiced against Squash Casserole.  So I say all that because if you’re like I was and you’re not a fan of typical squash casseroles, give this one a go!  Just once!  Because it is totally different than the ones you’re used to!

Squash Casserole

*  1 cup parmesan cheese

*  1 onion, diced

*  1 stick butter, melted

*  2-3 cloves fresh garlic

*  1 tsp. dried oregano or 1 Tbsp. fresh oregano

*  1/4 cup Bisquick

*  3-4 small yellow crookneck squash, sliced thin

*  1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

*  1 additional stick butter, melted

Mix all ingredients except crackers and second stick of butter.  I highly recommend grating your own parmesan cheese from a chunk.  But it’s not absolutely necessary.  Make sure squash is coated well with mixture.  Pour mixture in a baking dish sprayed liberally with non-stick cooking spray.  Bake 30 minutes in a preheated 350° oven.  Remove from oven.  Mix cracker crumbs with the additional stick of butter.  Sprinkle on top of casserole and return to oven for 10-15 minutes or until crumbs are browned.

And there’s your new twist on Squash Casserole.  I LOVE Italian food and this has an Italian flare with the garlic, oregano and parmesan cheese!  The flavor just pops!  And the squash remains just slightly firm and not mushy like those casseroles that call for the squash to be boiled before going into the dish.

Alright!  We’re about to Easter!  Now you guys better start sharing your ideas with me since I’m behind the ball here!  OK, see you tomorrow!   I’ll try to have a menu for you as to what’s going to be on MY Easter table!  Cuz right now, it just ain’t lookin’ promisin’!  LOL

What’s For Easter Dinner?

You know what?  I think it’s a crime against nature to have a holiday gathering where “traditional” holiday foods are served without Mashed Potatoes on the table.  They just have to be on the table next to the Dressing and English Peas!  But in the event that you don’t mind committing a crime against nature or you’ve decided against “traditional” for Easter, I thought I’d offer you some different ‘taters to put on your Easter table.

How about a Hashbrown Casserole?  We LOVE Hashbrown Casserole at our house!  It goes well alongside so many main dishes!  So I thought it would make a good alternative for Easter dinner in case you’re not making dressing and English peas!  :o)

Hashbrown Casserole

*  1 pkg. frozen hashbrowns

*  1 pkg. frozen seasoning blend (mixed onions, peppers, celery and parsley)

*  1 can cream of celery soup

*  1 cup sour cream

*  8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

*  1 tsp. Cracker Barrel Baked Potato Seasoning or Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt

*  2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients and pour into a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish that has been liberally sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 45 minutes.

If you like the Hashbrown Casserole at Cracker Barrel, you’ll LOVE this one!  It’s ooey and gooey and cheesy.  And YUMMMMMMM!  I serve it with so many different things.  We especially love it with BBQ Chicken or BBQ Pork Chops.  It goes nicely with most anything off the grill.  Hey, it’s good for breakfast!  Brown up some sausage and crumble into it.  OH YEAH BABY!  You’re groovin’ now! 

So let’s talk about another dish of taters.  When Tall Skinny Man and I were first married, I invented stuff left and right just dumping different things in pots and pans coming up with dishes.  One night, I invented what came to be known as Potatoes a la Amy.  Heck if I know why that ended up being the name.  But that’s what we’ve called them for nearly 19 years.  I’ve tweaked it a little over the years as I’ve learned about using fresh spices/herbs as opposed to dried. 

These potatoes would be great beside baked chicken, BBQ chicken, grilled chicken, most any chicken.  It would compliment most any pork:  pork loin, BBQ ribs, smoked pork chops, stuffed pork chops.  It would be great next to steak or prime rib!  So let’s make some, how ’bout?

Potatoes a la Amy

*  6-8 medium potatoes

*  1 large onion, diced

*  1 cup sour cream

*  1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

*  1/2 cup milk

*  3-4 cloves garlic, minced

*  1 handful fresh parsley, chopped

*  salt and pepper to taste

*  8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

You can peel the potatoes or leave them with the skin on.  It’s completely whatever you prefer.  Cut them into large chunks.  Boil them until tender.  Drain well.  Mix sour cream, milk and ranch dressing mix.  Add to potatoes along with all ingredients except cheese.  Stir together being careful not to tear potatoes up.  Pour into a casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Top with cheese.  Bake in a preheated 350° oven until cheese is melted and bubbly. 

WHEW!  Now I’m hungry!  I hope these have given you some ideas for something different for your Easter dinner!  We are a ‘tater lovin’ family at my house.  We think we haven’t eaten unless a potato was served.  And these make a nice change from plain ole mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!  Tune back in tomorrow to the same bat channel for more side dishes for your Easter table!  Have a tremendously fabulous day because today is the first day of SPRING! 

Easter Dinner Planning……

Easter is coming up!  Just a few more days now to plan!

So we always have a big meal at our house for Easter dinner (again, that’s lunch, not the evening meal because that’s what my Granny called it!)  Sometimes we do “traditional” and by traditional I mean turkey, dressing, ham, etc.  And then sometimes we do something different like a roasted pork loin or whatever else might crank tractors around here.    

 If we do “traditional,” I have a few dishes that are “can’t miss” dishes.  The kind of dishes that you just can’t have Easter without.  I thought I would share some of those over the next couple of days and maybe give you some new inspiration for your Easter table this year. 

If we’re having ham, one of my very favorite dishes to serve alongside ham is Scalloped Pineapple.  It’s just unbelievable with ham and turkey!  Or, heck, even a pork loin for that matter!  I’ve even served this for breakfast!   It’s simply a fabulous dish!  This makes an amazing pot luck dish because you won’t find 18 of them sitting there side by side!  So ya wanna make it?  Here’s how!  It’s so simple, it’s crazy!!!!

Scalloped Pineapple

*  2 large cans pineapple chunks, drained, reserving juice

*  1 cup sugar

*  6 Tbsp. flour

*  6 Tbsp. reserved pineapple juice

*  2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

*  1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crumbled

*  1 stick butter, melted

Drain pineapple chunks well.  In a large mixing bowl, combine pineapple chunks, sugar, flour and pineapple juice.  Mix well.  Stir shredded cheddar cheese into mixture.  Pour into an oven-proof bowl sprayed liberally with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix Ritz cracker crumbs with melted butter.  Sprinkle evenly on top of pineapple mixture.  Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 35-40 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Ankle Biter 1 requested this particular dish to go with his birthday supper last year.  It’s something we all love.  It’s a bit sweet, but a bit savory at the same time.  Sorta side dish.  Sorta dessert!  Sorta over-the-top delish! 

I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as my family and I enjoy it if you decide to make it.  And by the way, this is not just a fabulous dish to put on your Easter table!  I always do this for Thanksgiving and Christmas as well!  It makes the rounds at all the holidays.  Kinda like crazy old Uncle Cooter!  I don’t really have a crazy old Uncle Cooter.  But maybe you do!  And he makes the rounds at all holiday eating festivities.  So make him some Scalloped Pineapple!

 Stay tuned this week because I’m going to continue sharing a different side dish recipe or two daily until Easter.  See you tomorrow!  Come hungry!