Brandy's Questionaire

What is your go to dish: Hubs and I talked about this and we couldn't put our finger on it. It used to be shepherds pie, then tacos, then dutch oven potatoes, and most recently chicken pot pie, but we would get sick of something and then rarely eat it again LOL

Who are you cooking for: Hubs, Love bug-2yr old Daughter, and someday Piglet 4mo. old daughter- she currently is on a "mama's milk" diet only.

How did you learn to cook: I learned from my mother and MAINLY from my "foods" class in 9Th grade.

Worse recipe disaster: I don't remember what it was called, it had rice, chicken and other stuff and it called for a FEW of the pepper seeds and I threw in what I thought was a FEW and packed it up for a picnic (hubs was working that day) and we each took a bite and spit it out, my tongue was on fire and I couldn't taste a thing for the rest of the day... :( HORRIBLE!

Best recipe: Jerk Chicken... yummmmmmm

Do you take your kids in the kitchen: I love to try to get love bug in the kitchen she loves to "help" yesterday she washed the potatoes and then I peeled them and she re-washed them... and she also dumped the sauce and spices in the crock pot for me. :)

Personal cooking goals: To get my family to eat more veggies, my hubs RARELY eats them and Love bug won't even try them! (she does love tomatoes!) To try more variety of things and expand our weekly menus.

Favorite cooking utensil: I love silicone spatulas would use them on everything if I could, OH and silicone tongs!

Favorite Method of cooking: (i.e. crock pot, one pot meals, BBQ etc..) Well I have to say BBQ/Dutch Oven: cause in our house that's assigned to hubs. :) I really like one pot meals If I had to pick.

Do you bake: I do, but I really don't like to, because I suck at it!

Favorite Beverage while cooking: WATER... I know I'm boring!

Does your husband/Boyfriend cook: Yes, anytime it's BBQ/ Dutch oven cooking he is assigned. AND I told him he has to cook one night a week so I can have one night off and he picked Tuesdays... :) Sweet I know, but sometimes it is scary, he knows how to cook things like hot pockets... and only used a microwave before we got married.

Childhood memory about food: not sure I have one of those....

What is your favorite food to eat: WOW that's tough I like food a whole lot. Ummmm..... I really do love Mexican food but I only know how to cook one Mexican dish... I do love Lasagna and Chinese too!

Favorite place to go eat at when you don't want to cook: Cafe Rio- fast food, or sit down at Chili's, or Chin Wah's. Although no one beats Applebee's blondie brownie dessert!

What do you want to teach your children through cooking: To use fresh ingredients and to enjoy cooking because it's better and healthier for you.

What is your favorite dessert: Sorry again I just can't pick ONLY one: Magic bars, banana creme pie, Chex mix, Sara's cake pops, and now Sara's carmel corn.

What is your favorite junk food: Well I have to say prob. the Chex mix or Sara's Carmel Corn because I eat too many and they disappear sometimes the same day! :(

Do you have a food weakness: Sometimes I think I can just throw a few ingredient together that sound good in my head... but it never tastes as good as it sounds.

What time is supper/dinner: When hubs gets home which is usually between 6-7

Chicken Tamale Casserole

What is it about the days getting longer that makes me think that I have all the time in the world. Hubby had taken the kids outside to play on the water slide and I just kind of forgot about time marching by - while we usually have dinner around 7 - I didn't start this dish until after 8:30.

It was the perfect summer night though - while the casserole was finishing off in the oven - we all went outside to watch the fireflies.

Chicken Tamale Casserole
All You Magazine May 2010

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp chili powder
1 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced
1 4oz can diced green chilies, drained
salt and pepper
1 15 oz can of medium red enchilada sauce
4 cups crumbled cornbread
1.2 buttermilk
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mist a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, warm oil over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; saute until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and chili powder and saute 1 minute.

Add chicken and chilies; season with salt and pepper. Raise heat to high. Saute until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Pour in enchilada sauce. Bring to a boil. Spoon mixture into baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine cornbread and buttermilk. Sprinkle 1/2 of cheese over chicken mixture; spread cornbread mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. bake until top is golden, about 20 minutes.

It was like a Rachael Ray love fest in my kitchen - I used my bake ware, cookware, knives, benchscrape and mopine. The only thing missing? Rachael Ray herself!

I forgot to pick up some cooking spray - so I used some cupcake liners to avoid having to scrape the corn bread off my muffin tin. It worked wonders.



There is nothing better for casseroles than Pampered Chef Stone ware - it cooks beautifully and nothing stuck to it!



I used my favorite corn bread - Jiffy Mix for the topping - and while I was a little worried about the buttermilk - it made for a great crust when combined with cheddar cheese.



There was only a tiny bit left over.

We all rate this dish with a high 5 spoons.

Hubby ran out while I was getting everything ready and said that when he hit the second set of stairs he could smell my fabulous cooking from outside!

Oatmeal Blueberry Cookies

The blueberries are here! We've been picking these like crazy and I thought, since I'm in the throws of preserving them, I would show you the many ways I preserve this harvest. At Money Saving Maine-iac you can check in everyday this week and follow this the series Five Days, Five Different Ways.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

• ½ pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
• ½ c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1½ c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. salt (optional)
• 3 c. oats
• 1½ c. dried blueberries

A neighbor friend Linda C. gave this recipe to me a last year back before moving to Florida. It looks like it is loosely based on the Quaker Oats recipe.

1.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

2.) In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and dried blueberries.

3.) Combine the Dry and wet ingredients.

4.) Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

5.) Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.

These cookies are delicious. There are never any complaints from the Peanut Gallery but I think the next time I bake these I'll try substituting 1/2 cup shortening for 1/2 cup of the butter. I think the texture will be more to my personal liking. This recipe is a definite 4 spoons!

Blessings,

Teresa

Taking It Easy

For the weekend we thought we would take it easy...just
post a quote, picture or short food article.

Thanks so much for joining us in our kitchens!

Cookies-and-Cream Milk Shakes
All You Magazine May 2010

5 chocolate sandwich cookies such as Oreos
2 cups vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
1/4 cup milk

Place 3 cookies in a ziplock bag. Seal bag and crush cooking with a rolling pin.

In a blender, combine ice cream and milk. Blend until smooth. Add crushed cookies and pulse a few times just to blend. Pour into 2 tall glasses and garish each with a cookie (or a dollop of whipped cream drizzled with chocolate syrup if desired).