That was it?? Really?
So the Hurricane past us and the worst we got were some leaves in the parking lot but that didn't stop up from preparing for the worst! We had all the candles in the house ready, flashlights, and a battery operated radio just in case and of course food!. We didn't need any of it, well we needed the food.
What did we have for a nasty windy Saturday dinner? Chicken soup! It may be good for the soul but it's also good to warm you up down to your toes and make your heart smile.
2-3 chicken breasts cut into bit sized pieces.
3-4 celery stalks
1/2 onion
1 cup of peas and carrots
some fresh parsley (I'm really not sure how much)
1 1/2 boxes of chicken stock
1 cup pearl barley
Put all the ingredients except the barley and 2 cups of the chicken stock in a 4 qt crock pot and set on high for 4 hours. when the soup has cooked for the 4 hours add the barley and 2 cups of broth a 1 qt pot on the stove on medium/high heat for about 10 minutes; then add to the chicken soup. Cook for at least 1/2 hour more.
Pretty easy for a really filling happy meal! I serve it with nice thick Italian bread to sop up what's left in the bowl. Perfect for hurricanes, blizzards, freezing cold days, and any time you need an internal pick me up!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Pancakes!
As you know I love breakfast. However I have had a bit of an issue with pancakes. The perfect pancake has always eluded me. recently I tried to make them from scratch to no avail. They were pretty awful. They were somewhere between crepes (awesome) and pancakes (also awesome). The somewhere in between is terrible. They were heavy and thick and not very tasty. So this past Sunday I headed to ACME Markets to pick up dinner ingredients (chicken a la king, very tasty). While at the store I happened to pass the isle where the boxed pancake mix is. Now I'm normally a "make it from scratch" girl but I've learned a lesson, sometimes the box is faster and easier. My pancakes were so good! Light, fluffy, flavorful and a perfect holder for as much maple syrup as I could pour on them!
Apparently pancake mix can also be used to make all kinds of other breadings and tasty goodness. (I learned two things this weekend) anything from chicken fingers to biscuits can be made with Bisquick. I love it!
So the perfect pancake started with Bisquick 2 eggs and 1 cup of milk. I mixed the eggs and the milk in a bowl and added the Bisquick according to the instructions on the box. I heated up a large skillet and added butter. Once the butter is melted drop 1/4 cup of the pancake batter to the pan and don't touch it until the edges start to dry and bubbles form on top of the pancake. Flip and cook through.
I wiped out the pan after each set of pancakes and added more butter. The key is to not let the butter burn or turn brown.
Enjoy breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day!! :)
Apparently pancake mix can also be used to make all kinds of other breadings and tasty goodness. (I learned two things this weekend) anything from chicken fingers to biscuits can be made with Bisquick. I love it!
So the perfect pancake started with Bisquick 2 eggs and 1 cup of milk. I mixed the eggs and the milk in a bowl and added the Bisquick according to the instructions on the box. I heated up a large skillet and added butter. Once the butter is melted drop 1/4 cup of the pancake batter to the pan and don't touch it until the edges start to dry and bubbles form on top of the pancake. Flip and cook through.
I wiped out the pan after each set of pancakes and added more butter. The key is to not let the butter burn or turn brown.
Enjoy breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day!! :)
Friday, August 19, 2011
Frying makes everything better
I’m not usually a big fan of eggplant. When it’s raw it is really meaty and firm but when you start to cook it the meatiness turns to mush, gross. But for you my friends I was willing to give it another shot, and hope it was better than the beets.
I racked my brain thinking of all the different things I could do to hide the eggplantiness of it. In the end I decided to roll with it and see what happened. I sliced it up threw it in some egg, then breaded it and fried it. And wouldn’t you know it? It was great! To top it off instead of sprinkling with salt I decided to go a whole different route. I sprinkled shredded parmesan cheese (shredded not powdered). It was salty and delicious. I fried it in vegetable oil. The one thing to keep in mind is that your oil needs to be hot. If it’s too cool you’ll end up with soggy eggplant that has way too much oil in it. If you fry in nice hot oil you’ll keep the fat content down and your eggplant should be pretty crisp.
Suggested tools:
Shallow fry pan
Splatter screen (I don’t know about you but I’m not a fan of speckled oil burns up my arm)
Tongs (the best way to turn things that I’ve found)
1 plate covered in paper towels to drain
Recipe:
1 eggplant sliced into 2 inch by 1 inch slices (or however you like them)
1 egg beaten
1 cup (ish) 4C seasoned breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil to coat the bottom of a 10-12 inch frying pan
½ cup parmesan cheese
I racked my brain thinking of all the different things I could do to hide the eggplantiness of it. In the end I decided to roll with it and see what happened. I sliced it up threw it in some egg, then breaded it and fried it. And wouldn’t you know it? It was great! To top it off instead of sprinkling with salt I decided to go a whole different route. I sprinkled shredded parmesan cheese (shredded not powdered). It was salty and delicious. I fried it in vegetable oil. The one thing to keep in mind is that your oil needs to be hot. If it’s too cool you’ll end up with soggy eggplant that has way too much oil in it. If you fry in nice hot oil you’ll keep the fat content down and your eggplant should be pretty crisp.
Suggested tools:
Shallow fry pan
Splatter screen (I don’t know about you but I’m not a fan of speckled oil burns up my arm)
Tongs (the best way to turn things that I’ve found)
1 plate covered in paper towels to drain
Recipe:
1 eggplant sliced into 2 inch by 1 inch slices (or however you like them)
1 egg beaten
1 cup (ish) 4C seasoned breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil to coat the bottom of a 10-12 inch frying pan
½ cup parmesan cheese
Monday, August 15, 2011
BBQ Pulled Pork
After a full day of work and a workout and the trials of a normal day sometimes I just don’t feel like making a fussy dinner. So I’m working on making dinners that are easier and faster so I can have them ready either when I get home or soon thereafter. Pulled pork is a meal that tastes like you slaved all day but is so easy it’s perfect for a quick dinner, but you need to plan ahead.
The night before:
Starting the night before you rub your pork loin or shoulder (whichever you can find in the store) with a pork rub. I used Stubb’s rub.
Chop 2 onions and a few cloves of garlic roughly, no need to get fancy here, you won’t be serving them. Throw the onions, garlic and dry rubbed pork into the crock pot and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning:
Fill the crock pot ¾ up with water. Add 2-3 tablespoons of liquid smoke (this is really important; it will give your pork that real BBQ flavor). Put crock in the base and turn on low. Cook for at least 6 hours. If you work normal hours (morning to evening) set it before you go to work and it will be fully cooked when you get home 8-9 hours later.
When you get home:
Drain the water and move the pork to a cutting board. Discard the garlic and onions. Pull the pork apart with 2 forks. Return the pork to the crock pot and add your favorite BBQ sauce. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s. My next BBQ Project is to reverse engineer Sweet Baby Ray’s.
This is great on kaiser rolls for dinner; or, as we found out last weekend, great with eggs and for those very braves souls, on a waffle.
Everything you’ll need:
Pork: 5-7 lbs Loin or shoulder (butt, boston butt, or whatever they call it in your store)
Pork rub (your favorite, I recommend Stubbs)
Liquid smoke
2 onions
Garlic cloves
Water
BBQ sauce
Rolls
The night before:
Starting the night before you rub your pork loin or shoulder (whichever you can find in the store) with a pork rub. I used Stubb’s rub.
Chop 2 onions and a few cloves of garlic roughly, no need to get fancy here, you won’t be serving them. Throw the onions, garlic and dry rubbed pork into the crock pot and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning:
Fill the crock pot ¾ up with water. Add 2-3 tablespoons of liquid smoke (this is really important; it will give your pork that real BBQ flavor). Put crock in the base and turn on low. Cook for at least 6 hours. If you work normal hours (morning to evening) set it before you go to work and it will be fully cooked when you get home 8-9 hours later.
When you get home:
Drain the water and move the pork to a cutting board. Discard the garlic and onions. Pull the pork apart with 2 forks. Return the pork to the crock pot and add your favorite BBQ sauce. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s. My next BBQ Project is to reverse engineer Sweet Baby Ray’s.
This is great on kaiser rolls for dinner; or, as we found out last weekend, great with eggs and for those very braves souls, on a waffle.
Everything you’ll need:
Pork: 5-7 lbs Loin or shoulder (butt, boston butt, or whatever they call it in your store)
Pork rub (your favorite, I recommend Stubbs)
Liquid smoke
2 onions
Garlic cloves
Water
BBQ sauce
Rolls
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