What Are You Having For Supper on St. Patrick's Day?

We'll be having this:  Corned Beef Supper.

 It is so delicious.  I'll be salivating till Tuesday.

Pinterest Fail - Meringue Ghosts

We had a combo birthday/Halloween party for our two girls about a week ago.  Of course I scoured Pinterest looking for cute ideas for the party.

When I saw these beauties from Smart School House on Pinterest, I was so excited to make them.

They looked so easy to make - just a few ingredients.  And they're so adorable.

Mine???

These ghosts are scary all right

Not so much.

Recipe To Try - Homemade Refrigerator Pickles

Have y'all seen my garden?  I'm pretty proud of it.

My 8-year-old is hiding back there

Our garden just took off this year.  The cucumbers and tomatoes have just taken over everything.  It took a long time before we got veggies, but they're coming in slowly but surely.

I swear I feel like Indiana Jone scouting out pathways to grab the veggies.  I feel like I need a machete or something - but if I used a machete, I'd cut down all the beautiful young baby veggies that aren't ripe yet.

Since I wasn't a schooled gardener, I thought that I'd be able to actually pickle and can tons and tons of cucumbers all at once, and I'd have jar after jar after jar of delicious pickles that would last us all year - I thought the same thing with the tomatoes.  That just isn't the case with this small of a garden - at least it's not happening that way for me. 

But I digress...since we're only getting a couple of cukes at a time, we came up with this yummy recipe for refrigerator pickles.  It really is delicious and it's super easy.  My girls could eat a whole jar of these in one sitting.

You can even have your little ones help you load the jars up.  What a great learning and fulfilling experience it is to have your kids help you in the kitchen.  You could feel like Mama Of The Year letting them help you.  It's so awesome having your kids help you...until they start fighting about who gets to put what in the jar.  No, it's my turn to put them in the jar.  No, it's my turn.  That's MY pickle.  That pickle is ME.  I GET TO PUT IT IN THE JAR!  IT'S MY TURNNNNNNNNN! 

That's when you scream at the top of your lungs THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HAPPY LEARNING, BONDING EXPERIENCE FOR ALL OF US!!  LOVE AND PEACE AND ALL THAT CRAP!  NOW IT'S COMPLETELY RUINED BY Y'ALL FIGHTING.  And then you just quit for a few minutes and grab you a big ol' glass of Moscato and then all is right with the world.  

What? 

You know that happens in your kitchen too, right?

I'm not, like, a lone wolf in this situation, right?  Right?  I'm right, right?  Please tell me I'm right!!


But I digress again...here's the fabulous pickle recipe. The pickles really are awesome, no matter how much drama you have to put up with while making them!

Homemade Refrigerator Pickles

2 cucumbers - sliced
2 garlic cloves - sliced
1 very, very, very small onion - sliced (I use ones picked from my garden which are about the size of a big gumball)
1 tablespoon of kosher salt - plus a little more
ground pepper - however many shakes you want
fresh dill
vinegar
quart mason jar

Slice everything up.  Put a sprig or two of dill in the bottom of jar.  Then add couple of slices of onion and couple of slices of garlic.  Add a couple handfuls of cucumbers.  Keep going like that until the jar is full - dill, onion, garlic, cukes until you use everything up.  

Next fill the jar about 1/4 to 1/3 full of vinegar.  I put the salt in next and the pepper.  I use about a tablespoon of salt plus a few more shakes.  I also put quite a bit of ground pepper in.  Then fill the jar the rest of the way up with water.  

Put lid on.  Give it a good shake, shake, shake - let your kids shake, shake, shake the jar - then put the jar in the refrigerator.  

24 hours later, you'll have delicious pickles and your kids will be fighting over who gets the last dang pickle. And you'll be saying to yourself, Summer, I love you, but I'm kind of over you right now!

What?  I know they're cute!  They're also a tad ornery.  And they could quite possibly be one of the reasons why mama drinks a little...okay a lot a little... or a little a lot - either way works.

Recipe To Try - Cream Cheese Wontons

These were awesome.  And by awesome I mean, like, totally awesome.  And what makes these even more awesomer (yep, that's a word...in my dictionary anyway) is the amazingly awesome dipping sauce.

Don't be hatin' on my butcher block laminate countertops, yo.

Notice how there's, like, no sauce left?  It's because my husband and I devoured it.  I remembered to take a pic right before it was too late.

Click here to be taken to the recipes (or the doorway of awesomeness, as I like to call it) over on PW's site.

My only complaint about these cream cheese wontons is that you have to have patience to stand there and roll these suckers up.  At the end, I made one giant ravioli type wonton (you can see it in the first pic) because I was tired of standing there trying to make them all cute and cuddly.  Don't do that...because my giant ravioli didn't turn out right - too chewy.  I'm sure I probably still ate it, but it wasn't as good as those cute little wontons I spent countless seconds wrapping up.

Give these a shot soon!  They're awesome!  They're definitely worth the back pain!


(You can usually find the wonton wrappers in the refrigerated section of your grocery store.) 

Recipe To Try - Pioneer Woman's Chipotle Salsa

I checked out the Pioneer Woman's new book at the library last week.  It's such a pretty book - pretty colors, cute kids and dogs and gorgeous horses...oh, yeah, the food ain't too shabby either.


I'm going off of memory here on this recipe since I've already returned the book and ding dong me took a picture of the recipe on my phone and then deleted it after I made the salsa thinking I could easily find the recipe online somewhere - not so easy!

You're going to want to try this salsa.  I thought it was delicious.  It's a little on the hot side even though we only used one chipotle.  I'm a wimp when it comes to hot stuff though.


Pioneer Woman's Chipotle Salsa (from my memory)

2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel
1 onion diced
1 garlic clove minced (or a teaspoon of jarred garlic)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (you know, the canned stuff)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
bunch of cilantro with stems whacked off
1/4 cup lime juice

Dump everything into the blender and give it a whirl.  I stored mine in mason jars in the fridge.

Don't be hatin' on my paper plate now, y'all!

Recipe To Try - Banana Bread

I've never been a huge fan of banana bread...until now.  This stuff is delicious!  I got the recipe from Plenty of Lesley.  The only thing I did different was add 1/2 teaspoon or so of cinnamon.  A splash or two of vanilla would be awesome.  I also used butter instead of margarine.  I think the lower temperature for a longer amount of time is what makes this bread so good.

Want to give it a try?  Here's the recipe:

The Best Banana Bread

1 3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup mashed bananas (about three bananas)
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
splash or two of vanilla

Grease your loaf dish or spray with pam. Bake for 1 hour 275 degrees. Let sit for half an hour before cutting.

Click here for original recipe.

Recipe To Try - Chicken Dressing

This recipe comes from The Simple Life of WD-40.  This man knows how to cook now, y'all.  He's got some good ol' country, down-home recipes.  He doesn't have a web page or a blog.  All he has is the Facebook page.  I don't know about y'all, but I keep track of recipes I find by pinning them on Pinterest.  Since WD is only on Facebook, you can't pin any of his pictures.  So pin this and here's his recipe word for word:

WD-40 Chicken Dressing

1 (10 oz. ) can Chicken Breast
1 box Chicken Broth + 2 c.
6 c. blended cornbread crumbs
1 ½ c. blended biscuit crumbs
1 lg. onion diced
3 lg. stalks celery diced
1 ½ Tb. Spoons rubbed sage or 2 tbs.
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 reg. cans of cream of chicken soup
4 lg. eggs
½ c. butter or margarine
3 tsp. butter

Cook biscuits and cornbread let cool and grind up in blender and measure out amounts for recipe into a large mixing bowl mixed with sage and set aside. Using a med sauce pan add onions and celery 1 ¾ c. water and 3 tsp. butter boil for 10 min. Remove let cool. Add celery mix to bread crumbs, chicken soup, salt, pepper eggs, ½ c. butter, chicken broth and canned chicken. Mix up batter should be soupy if not add 1 c. water. Remove 1 c. or uncooked dressing set aside. Using 2 (9x13) buttered dishes pour in batter. Place into a 500 degree oven bake until brown on top 45 to 6o min.

 
Gravy.
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. raw chicken dressing
½ c. water
1 boiled egg chopped optional
1/8 tsp black pepper
3 Tb. Spoon corn starch or plain flour mixed with ¼ c. cold water.
Using a sauce pan on med heat add chicken broth, raw chicken dressing, and water and pepper. When hot mix corn starch and cold water in a ½ pint jar and shake until no lumps. Now pour this into gravy mix stirring until thickens to your likeness. Remember gravy will thicken more as it cools. Enjoy The Simple Life wd40 - Watson Ashe

Note: For moist dressing make your chicken dressing mix soupy.

_______________________________________________________________

I halved this recipe.  It was so good, I ate a bowl of it for breakfast.  Chicken Dressing...the breakfast of champions.

For the biscuit part of this recipe, I made these this weekend:

Nailed It

These are 7-Up Biscuits and they are ugly but, Man, they tasted scrumptious.  

Recipe To Try - French Fries

If you like your french fries or fried potatoes crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, then this recipe is for you.  It's so simple, yet so tasty.  Here's what you need:

Russet Potatoes
Corn Starch
Oil for frying
Water
Couple of cup towels

Easy!

I used my fancy french fry cutter dealymabob.  After cutting, put the fries in a bowl of water and rinse and drain and rinse and drain a couple of times.  Lay fries out on cup towel (dish towel) and cover with other towel and pat dry.  Sprinkle fries with corn starch just enough to coat them a bit - doesn't have to be perfect - some fries will have more cornstarch than others - no biggie.  Place in hot oil and fry till pretty golden color.  I seasoned my fries while they were cooking and after they were done. 

WARNING:  These are addicting!!

Recipe To Try - Frito Corn Salad

Here's another recipe for y'all to try.  It comes from The Country Cook and it's called Frito Corn Salad.  It went great with some larapin brisket and ribs.  So easy to make too.

Recipe To Try - Peachy Keen Cobbler

I just made this, y'all.  I'd forgotten how good it was.  YUMMY!  Click here for the recipe. 

Recipe To Try - Cheeseburger Casserole

This casserole tastes just like a cheeseburger, y'all!  I thought it was delicious.  My husband thought the pickles on the top would be weird, but I thought that's what made this dish.  And the best part is, if you used low-fat cheese and lean ground beef or turkey, this would be low fat.  Although I'm guessing if you substituted those (cheese and beef) out in any other dish it would make it low fat.  Oh, who am I to judge?  High fat, low fat, no matter what, it's yummy!

Here's the recipe from Skinnytaste:  Cheeseburger Casserole.

Recipe To Try - Pioneer Woman's Chicken Quesadillas & Pico de Gallo & Guacamole

These are Pioneer Woman's Chicken Quesadillas minus some of the bell peppers.  We're not big bell pepper eaters round these parts, so I used just one yellow bell pepper.  I usually cut PW's recipes down by half - she's got more people to feed than I do.  I'm saying this so you don't freak out when you read the recipe calls for 12 tablespoons of butter.  That's a tablespoon per tortilla.  So unless you're planning on making six huge plates of quesadillas, then you won't use that much.  These are delicious no matter how many you make.

I also made Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo.  You can find that recipe on the same page as the quesadillas.  Yummy!!!

With the Pico de Gallo, you can make the guacamole.

Everything tasted wonderful.

Now for the funny of the day:

Recipe To Try - Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites with Nutella Swirl

These lovely things are called Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites with Nutella Swirl.  I got the recipe from Everyday Insanity. 

Oh me, oh my, these things are delicious! 

They're so little and cute that they can't possibly be fattening, right?

It might be a little bit fattening, though, when you make a second batch of these and find yourself eating the WHOLE BOWL OF ICING!  Now, I wouldn't know a thing about that.


Now for the funny of the day:

Recipe To Try - Ranch BLT Macaroni Salad

I think I found this recipe on Facebook, but I can't quite remember.  I think this Texas heat is drying up some of my brain cells or something.  Anyway, it's quick and easy.  It's called Ranch BLT Macaroni Salad.  Instead of using a bottle of ranch dressing like the recipe called for, I used the package ranch stuff with the mayonnaise and the buttermilk...you know, the good, fattening stuff! 

Also it says to mix the bacon up with all the other ingredients.  That would be fine if you're planning on eating the whole bowl immediately in one sitting.  I ate some of this the next day after I made it and of course the bacon gets soggy and not-so-appetizing looking.  I'm thinking maybe this would be better if you served the crispy bacon crumbled on top.  Either way, it's delicious!

Now, for the funny of the day:


Tell it like it is, sister!

Recipes To Try - Father's Day Edition

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen Sunday.  But that's okay, my husband, the father of my children, is worth it.  Here's some of the things I whipped up:

For lunch I made Paula Deen's chicken salad.  For some reason or another, I forgot to take a picture of it.  Believe me when I say this recipe is super simple to make and it tastes delicious.  I always wind up adding more mayonnaise though.

I also made The Pioneer Woman's Deviled Eggs.  Here's a sad little picture of a lonely deviled egg - all his little friends had already met their demise.  I thought my husband was sneaking in the fridge and eating them throughout the day - come to find out, it was my sneaky 3-year-old.

For supper we had The Pioneer Woman's Cowboy Bacon Beans:

Delicious!

Pioneer Woman's Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

Probably the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten

And we marinaded a couple of ribeyes in this steak marinade.
 

I'm going to list the recipe for that marinade here because the link for it is all wonky on Pinterest.  And I.have.no.earthly.idea.how.I.lived.without.Pinterest.


Steak Marinade

¼  cups Olive Oil
¼  cups Balsamic Vinegar
¼  cups Worcestershire Sauce
¼  cups Soy Sauce
2  teaspoons Dijon Mustard
2  teaspoons Minced Garlic
Salt And Pepper, to taste

Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, and garlic in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Makes enough marinade for 4 steaks - but I use it on 2 steaks - the more the merrier, right?

We had some full bellies on Father's Day.  I'll definitely be making all these things again. 

Recipe To Try - Chicken & Green Chile Enchiladas

This recipe is delicious.  It comes from Everyday Mom's Meals. 

The recipe calls for chicken tenders, but I used chicken that my husband cooked on the grill that had been marinated in olive oil and a package of zesty Italian dressing - you know, the dry stuff that's over there by the ranch dressing packets at the store.

And, yes, my husband even took leftovers of this to work the next day...and that is saying something since he's usually not a fan of "yard bird". 

Recipe To Try - Mexican Rice

Y'all getting ready for Cinco de Mayo?  Yeah, me neither.  But if you are, here's an excellent recipe for you to try.  It's called Restaurant Style Mexican Rice and it comes from Favorite Family Recipes.

I made the mistake of making rice and beans one time when we were having tacos.  I was actually stupid enough to think that tacos weren't enough -  that we needed more to eat, more, more, more.  Now I have to cook beans AND rice along with the tacos every single time I make tacos.  Learn from me, people...tacos are enough.  But if you ever decide to make beans, try these beans because all you have to do is open a can and throw some stuff in the pot. 

Also, take my advice and make this rice.  I've been in search of the perfect mexican rice and I've tried many, many recipes.  They either turned out too tomato-y or too bland.  Not this one.  Oh, no.  It is just perfect.

Recipe To Try - Corned Beef, Cabbage, Colcannon...it's not just for St. Patrick's Day

I've made this meal the past two St. Patrick's Day.  I love it because it's all cooked in the crock pot at the same time, yet it turns in to three separate dishes. 

I found the recipe on Pinterest and here it is.  The only way I didn't follow the recipe was I didn't glaze the corned beef - only because I didn't have any apricot preserves laying around.  The corned beef turned out fabulous anyway.  I was surprised that even my pickiest eaters loved the meat.

The cabbage was all mine because nobody in this family will touch it with a ten-foot pole.  Eating all that cabbage also makes for a nice, peaceful evening alone because for some reason or another, nobody wanted to be in the same room with me.  I consider that a win/win - lol!

 

And then here's the delicious colcannon which oddly enough my husband ate even though it has cabbage in it...maybe it's because he didn't know there was cabbage in it.  I'm sneaky like that. 

Recipe To Try - Crispy Cheddar Chicken

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook last week.  I made it the night she posted it because it sounded so good.  It was really good.  My husband, who is anti-yard bird, loved it.  

I have no idea where the recipe came from, but I'll share it with you.  Hey, that's what friends are for, right?



Crispy Cheddar Chicken

2 lbs chicken tenders or 4 large chicken breasts
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup whole milk
3 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 tablespoon sour cream
2 tablespoon butter

Crush crackers. If using chicken breasts and not tenders, cut each chicken breast into 3 large pieces. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the salt and pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk and then the cheese. Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers. Then press the cheesy coated chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in.

Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.

In a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.

Recipe To Try - Charleston Cheese Dip

How can this recipe be anything but good with all that cheese in it -- oh, and the bacon!  You can't go wrong with cheese and bacon.

This is Trisha Yearwood's Charleston Cheese Dip and it is delicious.