Chicken & Dumplings

Chicken & dumplings. In my family, they are the ultimate comfort food. My chicken and dumplings are easy, and so, very delicious. I've never followed a recipe, but I'll do the best I can to instruct you so that you can experience the pleasure of this amazing dish.

The necessities:
*6-8 chicken thighs (or breasts if you prefer white meat, I am a dark meat girl)
*4 cans of biscuits (cheap, plain biscuits. Do NOT get butter-me-not or anything fancy, they'll stick and burn!!!)
*Nature's Seasons seasoning blend. (I put this on everything, and they are not paying me to say that, but if they'd like to they are welcome to do so!!)
*salt
*2 tbs butter or margarine
*flour





First, you cover your chicken thighs with the Nature's Seasons, then boil them for an hour. Remove them from the water and let them cool. Save that water to boil your dumplings.
While the chicken is boiling, begin your dumpling making. It's great if you have your 16 year old son and 9 year old daughter helping, as I did this past weekend. They make it fun!
Get out your cutting board and pour flour all over it. Then take a canned biscuit and cover it with flour. Roll it out nice and flat, then cut it into about 6-8 pieces. Do this with each biscuit. When they're all rolled out and cut up, drop them into the boiling chicken broth. Add your butter or margarine, more Nature's Seasons, and salt. Stir very frequently, especially at first, or they will stick to the bottom! While they're cooking, take the chicken off of the bone. The dumplings are done when they float to the top of the mixture. Add in the chicken, stir it all up, and you're done!
Serve. Drool. Eat until you are ready to pop!

And be comforted.

Cabbage & Sausage

I think cabbage gets a bad rap. So many people don't like it. Many times I've read in books about a place smelling like "cabbage and stale body odor" or something equally unpleasant.
I don't get it! I love cabbage!
And one of my very favorite things to do with cabbage is to make cabbage & sausage.
We got a head of cabbage and some big white onions from a local grower this weekend and I couldn't wait to make cabbage and sausage.
It's so easy! All you need is:

1 head of cabbage
1 white onion
1 pound of smoked sausage
butter, salt, seasoning

Chop up your veggies and sausage. Put them in a big pot and cover them with water. I add salt and Nature's Seasons. Bring it to a boil, then cook on med-high for about 15 minutes. Add a little butter and serve!
I always make Jiffy cornbread to go with mine.
Enjoy!

Creamy Mac and Cheese

Oddly enough, as much as I love to cook, I have never in my life made homemade macaroni and cheese.
My kids have always loved the good old Kraft in the box so much, it just seemed pointless to go to all that trouble.

But I offered to make mac & cheese for my great-niece, Hayleigh's first birthday party, and I decided I was going to finally make the homemade version.

But I didn't even have a recipe.
I wanted one that was delicious, of course, and not elaborate, and it had to be kid-friendly.
I looked in Hunter's mom's cookbooks, but didn't see anything.
I requested help from my friends via Facebook, but didn't get very far.

So I decided to ask Paula.
Paula Deen, that is.
I knew she would never steer me wrong.  And of course, I was right.  It was easy and turned out great.  And even better - it's a crock pot recipe!

So I decided to share this Creamy Macaroni and Cheese recipe with my friends.

1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup sour cream
1   (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
3   eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cup (about 10-ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8 ounce box isn’t quite 2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Add eggs. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

For once, I didn't alter the recipe!
Much.
I did use my ever-present Nature's Seasons, and I also added a little shredded cheese over the top before I served it.

It was a big hit.  In fact, a little 6 year old boy went back for seconds and, discovering that it was almost gone, stated that it was "vewwy mean" of people to have already eaten almost all of it!
AND one more side note: today I decided to make another batch, because I had all of the ingredients that I needed.
Except once I was actually already in the process of making it, I realized I didn't have a second can of cheddar soup.  I decided to try it without it, instead of wasting the ingredients I did have.  I threw some Parmesan cheese in there to cheese it up, just a few tablespoons.
Guess what?  Just as good - if not BETTER.  =D
ETA: Shelbie says it's BETTER!

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

I have a friend named Lori who lives in Philly.  When I posted this recipe on Facebook, she had a hissy fit, or whatever they call hissy fits up there in Philly.  She said it's NOT authentic unless it actually comes from Philadelphia, AND real Philly cheesesteaks contain ZERO vegetables.  No onions, mushrooms or peppers.

Hmph.  Who knew?

So I told her I'd call them FILLY cheesesteak stuffed peppers if it made her happy.  She liked that.

I didn't name the darned things anyway!  Like so many of the new recipes I try these days, I got it from Pinterest.






Whatever you call them, they are GOOD.

And very simple.

The original recipe calls for you to use roast beef, like deli meat. 

Which I think would be good, but Hunter wanted to use something more steak-like.  

So we use stir fry steak strips.

Here are the ingredients to make 6 FILLY stuffed peppers: 

3 bell peppers

1 lb. stir fry steak strips

1/2 large white onion, diced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

12 slices of provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice your peppers in half.  Clean out the seeds and stuff.

I boil mine for a few minutes prior to filling because I like a softer stuffed pepper.

Season your meat to taste - I use garlic powder and Nature's Seasons.

Brown it in a little olive oil.  

Sautee the onions and mushrooms.  I am not a mushroom fan so I do half with, half without.

I'm such a people pleaser.

Then you place your peppers on a cookie sheet.

Put one slice of provolone inside of each pepper.  Then fill with the meat, and top with the veggies.

Finally, place another slice of provolone over each pepper.  Pop them in the oven for about 5 minutes, just long enough to melt the provolone.

This is probably Hunter's favorite Pinterest recipe that I've tried.  He LOVES them.  

I also served them to his parents and brother and they were a big hit.

Let me know if you try them!

P.S. Follow me on Pinterest!

P.S.S. Why not follow me on Instagram too? brown_eyed_girl_11

Spinach Stuffed Chicken

I found this on Pinterest and then tweaked it - of course.
It is hands down one of the best things I've ever cooked.  Everyone who has tried it, LOVES it.
I made it for Hunter's parents and they loved me even more than before!
It's one of those dishes that seems hard and kind of impresses people, but it's actually really easy.  It's also very simple to double.

Here's the website with the original recipe: Cooking Creation   Their version uses cajun seasoning and chicken breasts, among a few other differences.  Also, they use toothpicks to seal the chicken shut while cooking.  I prefer wooden skewers cut in half, so that you're not hunting toothpicks before serving.

And here's my version:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (we prefer dark meat)
• 2 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded 
• 1 c frozen spinach, thawed and drained (you can also use fresh cooked spinach)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp Italian style breadcrumbs 
• Nature's Seasons, to taste
• wooden skewers, cut in half

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the pepper jack cheese, spinach, & seasoning.  Spoon about 1/4 c of the spinach/cheese mixture into each chicken thigh. Roll each chicken thigh tightly and fasten the seams with 3-4 wooden skewers.  

Brush each chicken thigh with the olive oil. Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over all. Sprinkle any remaining spinach and cheese on top of chicken.  (in my family we don't believe there's any such thing as "too much cheese".)

Place the chicken seam-side up onto a tin foil-lined baking sheet (for easy cleanup).  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

I like to serve it with parmesan orzo and dinner rolls.


PS - I'm (finally) getting a new camera next week and I am SO looking forward to taking good food pictures!!  =D

Mama's Meatloaf

Mmm, meatloaf. One of those comfort foods that's especially good in the winter.

Growing up, our meatloaf was very plain. Meat, salt & pepper, and ketchup.

I hated it.

But my ex-husband's late mother shared a secret with me. (when she was still alive and we were still married, of course.) She told me that she put pineapple in her meatloaf.

And I nearly gagged. But then I tried her meatloaf, and it was delicious.

And she was not even Southern! She was from Michigan, for crying out loud. But she sure could cook some meatloaf.

So I started experimenting and came up with a meatloaf recipe that I love. The problem is that I don't measure anything, so I'm going to estimate amounts, and you can play with them and make it the way you like it!

Mama's Meatloaf

2 lbs. ground beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

3 eggs

salt & Nature's Seasons

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped

1 packet of French's Meatloaf Seasoning

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1/2 cup ketchup

1 small can of crushed pineapple

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with your hands. Yes, it's yucky, but that's just the way you have to do it! Squish it all together, then put it in a 9x13 casserole dish and shape it into a meatloaf shape. I always squirt some ketchup on top in a swirly pattern, too. Then bake for 30-45 minutes, making sure it's done in the center.

It's off the chain!

You just have to make mashed potatoes with this. I recommend Pioneer Woman's recipe.

My World Famous Potato Salad

It's World Famous!
{Simply because I say so!}

Sorry friends, but there are no real measurements here. I'll do my best!
I make a big bowl of this because everyone loooves it.

5 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed {I cube them pretty small}
1 large white onion, diced
4-6 boiled eggs {smooshed with the smoosher thing}
Kraft mayonnaise. {Accept no substitutes!}
Hellman's Dijonniase mustard. {see above}
Dill pickle relish

Egg Smoosher= Something like this:



Boil your potatoes until they are soft but still firm. Then mix all ingredients together. You want it creamy but not soupy. Use plenty of dill relish, about half of one of those little jars.
And I season this with my all-purpose seasoning, Nature's Seasons.

Enjoy! I'm taking this to church this coming Sunday for Palm Sunday. =)