A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

I'm all about seasons, but Summer has worn on my last nerve. As the temperatures seemed to be showing signs of lowering, I begin thinking about soup.   It kind of drives me crazy to hear, "Soup is just so hot." Well -- I kind of laugh because I'm thinking most  meals are hot and it doesn't keep me from eating them during the Summer months.   For me, though, soup is a comfort food. Usually not heavy, but certainly filling. I get a ton of daily emails with recipes and so many of them I just ignore. But a few weeks ago I received an email with a subject line of "Five Easy Soups." Of course, I took a peak and I liked what I saw! Not only were there five easy soups, but I believe all of the soups had only five ingredients. Sometimes, that can leave you with a bland recipe, but I have high hopes for these soups listed! One of the recipes was for this curry soup. Now!  Before you say, "I don't like curry," I sa...

This past weekend was spent at the lake with the Mr.'s family. We had a great time of hanging out, laughing, and sitting by the fire. The 7 cousins played marathon air hockey . . .so much that my girl cherub's arm was sore! With 4 families represented, we decided that each family would take one dinner for each of the days we were together and be responsible to provide the food for everybody. Breakfast and lunch . . .each family brought what they wanted and just shared. But dinner was a little more organized. The Mr. and I had the Saturday night dinner. We had big shoes to fill because my brother in law and sister in law did a shrimp boil for everyone on Friday night. It was fantastic! So Saturday afternoon, we set about our dinner preparation. I did all of the prep work that could be done ahead of time at home so that cooking on Saturday night would be as easy as possible. We had the roasted potatoes that I posted a few weeks ago. http://karen-proverbs31...

Smoking meat is one of those things I really want to learn to do. Correction:  smoking meat is really one of those things I really want the MR. to learn to do! He has smoked meat a several times. But truthfully, there is an art to doing it well. Some people call that "a knack!" The problem is that the Mr. doesn't want to learn how to do this "art," as much as I want him to learn! Oh, the problems we have! But!  My smoking meat dilemma was cured a few weeks ago when a friend of ours offered to smoke some meat for us. He's really good at what he does! He's even won a "smoking competition." Now!  Before you go making wise cracks about that statement . . .I already know what you might say. Honestly, though . . . there's a lot to being able to smoke meat well. And well he did! After the meat was smoked, the Mr. and I put it into the freezer so that we'd have it when we wanted it. This week, with the crazy schedule...

Everyone has their favorite chicken salad. But if you're like me, you're always on the search for "the best" chicken salad. I've scoured lots of church cookbooks, tea room recipes, and magazines searching for an even better chicken salad recipe. Truthfully, I've had some delicious chicken salads. But this one . . . this is one of my favs! I've used this recipe for more than 15 years. Honestly, though, I don't make it a lot. And for that, I'm not sure as to the reason. Bust as we planned a get-away this Summer, I decided to make this to take with us. When we travel to the mountains, that is our let down and relax time. I don't mind cooking . . .but I want to do it at home and just take it with us in the cooler. That way, while we're away, I feel like I'm getting a vacation too -- rather than having to spend so much time preparing meals! Chicken Salad 3 cups cooked & cubed chicken (I roast a whole ch...

      I sat and wrote the post for this marinade. At the very end, I thought to myself, "I wonder if I've ever posted this before?" Well . . . guess what! Here's the link to the very recipe that I was going to post today, that I've already posted several years ago! http://karen-proverbs31.blogspot.com/2012/05/grilled-chicken-marinade.html If you are needing a new recipe . . .or maybe to be reminded of a good recipe, give this marinade a try! Happy Grilling!

Now that the cherubs do their school from home, lunch time is a little more . . . involved. You know, for years, I'd send my cherubs off to school with the packed lunch. A sandwich, a bag of something crunchy, some resemblance of fruit, and a dessert. They never really complained. Matter of fact, I never remember hearing a grumble about their lunch. But now that they're home for lunch, it's like they've forgotten that a sandwich is sufficient! It's not long after I get the kitchen cleaned up from breakfast, they're asking what's for lunch! I'm seriously creating 3 meals a day! Sometimes I just don't have it in me . . . but today! Today, was a lunch success! Using left-over grilled chicken, and a few other ingredients, this lunch hit the lunch win! I started out just making this little lunch for my girl cherub. After I tasted it to see if it was seasoned right, I decided that we would all have it for lunch! I love t...

It really doesn't matter what the outside temperature is doing; we like to grill! Since it's the Mr. that stands out in the cold, or heat, or mist, or snow, or rain, I'm always game to throw something on the grill for dinner! The other day, when shopping for groceries, I noticed the store didn't carry my favorite marinade. But they had another marinade from a brand that I like that sells BBQ sauce. Plus, it is a local brand, and I like shopping local. So I bought the new brand marinade. But I didn't like it. Matter of fact, the Mr. and cherubs didn't like it either. Not that it was bad, because we wouldn't know. Because it had no taste. None. I'm not into tasteless marinade. So now, with no marinade in the house and chicken thawed out, I needed a marinade. I remembered a teriyaki  marinade that I used to make, but couldn't find the recipe. Then I remembered another one. This one is delicious. I twee...

When the Mr. and I lived in Nashville, we were "adopted" by a great family. John was my boss, both at my full-time job and at the church where he and I served on staff part time. Ms. Kaye, his wife, was the church cook and was fantastic at everything! We became fast friends with the two of them! Ms. Kaye and I shared the love of good bargains, fun shopping, and cooking together! It's been a lot of years since we have lived in Nashville, but we still keep up with our friends, and on the occasions when we get to see John and Kaye, we always pick right up where we left off! This recipe is one of the many I have from Ms. Kaye. I like this for many reasons: It's easy. It's great for a crowd . . .or a family with guaranteed left-overs. It makes a lot. It's adaptable.  That's enough reasons to make it! Today, I had left-over turkey I had baked over the weekend that I wanted to use.  Because the poultry was already cooked, thi...

The other day, I was doing my grocery shopping early in the morning. As in so early, the stockers where filling the shelves. I kind of like it that early -- there's not all the hub-bub in the aisles or long waits at the check out line. While shopping, I ran into a friend. We caught up on life, chatted about the day and moved on. When I was leaving, she was leaving too. She called my name and asked if my family likes soup? "YES!" She sent me 3 emails with different soup recipes. I've only been able to try one of them, but it was a huge success! Suzy's Green Chili Enchilada Soup 2 large cans (28oz) green chili enchilada sauce 2 small cans diced green chilies 8 oz cream cheese 1 small onion, diced 1 1/2 cups instant rice* 1 can chicken broth** diced chicken (rotisserie or chicken breasts that have been roasted, boiled, or baked)*** 2 TBSP butter In a large stock pan, melt the butter.  Add the diced onion and saute.  Add in the chick...

Oh my word! How do the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas seem like a never-ending roller coaster that's out of control? Serious! I need to get in control of this! During these holiday weeks, if my family gets dinner, we're lucky. I'm not talking balance. Or even including a vegetable! I'm talking, if there's something that resembles a meal, there's  no complaining! We don't go and grab when it's hectic. It's still easier and far cheaper for me to fix something at home. The other night, I made this for me and the cherubs because the Mr. wasn't at home. It was so good that I made it again, two nights later! It is so forgiving! Since being gluten free, there are some things we miss. Chinese food is one of them! This filled the void! Plum Chicken Chicken breasts, cubed salt pepper garlic powder corn starch 2-3 egg whites, whisked oil plum jelly sriracha sauce For the 4 of us, I used 3 chicken breas...

Photo taken by my boy cherub When we rolled into the sleepy New Hampshire town and there were only two restaurants to choose from . . . and one was closed, we know our options might be slightly limited! In the parking lot, the Mr. said, "we might be eating gluten tonight!" We were wrong! Not only did they have gluten free options, but they even had a gluten free menu! Because we had devoured a ton of cheese and apples earlier that day, the Mr. and I decided on something to share for dinner. For a point of information: I am not really one that "likes" to eat out. Oh, I like to . . . but it's for strange reasons. As in, I don't want to order something I can easily make at home. Like a salad. Honestly, unless it's an "over the top" salad, I'm not going to order one as my meal. When I go out, I'm looking for things to try that I can then go home and replicate. That's what happened this night! ...

Image from the internet I think this is my very favorite marinade right now! I love it for it's deep flavor that makes the meat taste like it took hours to achieve the taste. I've been using this marinade for several years, but it wasn't until recently that I have become enamored with it. As in, I use it all the time. Lately, every piece of chicken gets dunked in this marinade. Not dunked . . . soaked! I've told you my marinade method: come home from the grocery store and divide my meat into gallon ziplock bags based on what I'm going to be using it for. Those things that need to be marinated, gets the marinade thrown in the bag right away, then off to the freezer it goes. My theory:  it marinates while it's going into a deep freeze and it marinates more while it's thawing out! It's a win-win situation for everyone! Back to this marinade, I've always purchased a small, normal size bottle. I use it on chicken, beef...

Happy Ocho de Mayo! OK--it doesn't have the same ring as "Cinco de Mayo," huh? With this recipe, you'll be won't care what "day of de Mayo" it is  you'll be happy to have it! Over the weekend, my girl cherub found a recipe that she was dying for us to make . . . Tequila grilled chicken. Well . . . . let's just say we improvised, for a variety of reasons! Monday, I headed to the store to gather everything we would want to celebrate in a Mexican way! chicken corn tortillas jalapenos queso fresco cilantro limes margarita mix Yep, that's what I used instead of the tequila. Margarita mix! We don't know any different . . .we loved it! If you make this recipe, feel free to make any substitutions that you want; after all, that's what we did! My cherub got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman Well, not directly from her, but from the show, I guess. I never saw the recipe, I just went on what my cherub...

That's a mouthful! And I want another bite! I'm not even kidding! I loved this sandwich! Seriously loved it! Soooooooooo  easy! I utterly impressed myself when we made it! Right now, we have no idea what season it will be when we wake up! It's totally frustrating! I love winter, so I'm sad to see it go . . .but I'm tired of having one foot in Winter and one foot in Spring! Heck, we go to my boy cherub's baseball games and we don't know if we need sunscreen or a blanket! We, and by "we" I mean "he," played Saturday and afterwards we, and by "we" I mean "the Mr," was going to grill chicken. I decided we'd have chicken sandwiches because when I made this decision it was Spring outside. But when it came time to actually cook, we could have had soup because it was wintry. But I stuck with the Spring menu and made this delish sandwich! FYI:  I made 6 sandwiches -- I pound the chicken b...

I love teaching. I have recently completed a long-term subbing job in a third grade class. I loved it; I loved the kids! I also love being at home. I have been a "stay at home" mom for a 15 years. I love it; I love home. Today, was my first day back at home! I cleaned the house and did some laundry. I got my hair cut and had lunch with my girl cherub. I made some gingerbread and chicken pot pie! The Mr. has been asking for chicken pot pie, but I've been putting him off! But today is his day! I'm so excited! I not only made chicken pot pie . . .but I made individual chicken pot pies! Everyone will have their own, stuffed-to-the-rim pan of chicken pot pie! How yummy . . .and domestic is that? Chicken Pot Pie (s) (makes 1, 9inch pie or 4, 4inch pies) 2 chicken breasts salt pepper turmeric 2 red skinned potatoes, chopped 4 carrots, cleaned and chopped 1/4 of an onion, chopped 1 can mixed veggies, drained heavy crea...

For Christmas lunch, my mom made a ham and this delicious pineapple sauce. We all instantly loved it! We have eaten cold and we've eaten it warm. We have thought about all the ways to use this sauce: with grilled chicken with grilled/roasted pork with baked ham on sandwiches as a dip mixed with cream cheese wrap brie and this sauce in puff pastry and bake to serve as an appetizer My cherub's really loved this and have already asked for me to make more of it! They're favorite thing right now is to make a grilled ham and pimento cheese sandwich and use this as the spread! They call it "the ultimate ride!" Mix this condiment up and see how many recipes you can create with it! Pineapple Sauce 1 - 20oz can crushed pineapple, undrained 1 cup brown sugar 1 TBSP cornstarch 1/4 tsp. salt 2 TBSP lemon juice 1/2-1 TBSP Dijon mustard Combine the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Stir in the pineapple, lemon juice, and mustard. Cook over me...

I'd like to say "Beef" in the title, or "pork." or maybe even "chicken." But because this is versatile, I just called it meat. Doesn't sound appetizing, does it? I know! I'm not sure that I would have read much further than the title! But I'm just saying, that if you'll give this a whirl, you'll be glad that you hung with me! This can be as spicy as you want. I like this recipe because it's kind of a sweet heat. Because my girl cherub is a wimp when it comes to much spice, I kept it easy. But I will say, I could have easily added an extra toss of the chipotle peppers! Which!  Let me tell you my most exciting find on the grocery aisle this past shopping trip! Normally, I have to buy a can of chipotle peppers. Like this: I pop the top, use what I need and freeze the rest until another recipe. But then I found the peppers, chopped, in a jar . . . a small jar, but none-the-less, a jar! That means I...

Hotel in Paris, France The Summer of 2012, we took the family on a European vacation. My souvenirs from the trip was a cookbook from each country that we visited. It has been so fun to make some of the foods that we enjoyed while we were away! Last week, I used the book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking . I love this cookbook because it not only has recipes, but it gives the technical information about the dish or the style of cooking.  It's very interesting to read! For example, this dish, in French, is called Supremes de Volaille a Blanc. Doesn't that sound much more interesting? "Supremes" is a boneless piece of chicken breast. If the wing is left on the breast, it then becomes a "cotelette." The breast of a cooked chicken is not a "supreme" but a "blanc de poulet." Can you believe that I learned all of this from this amazing cookbook? It will not surprise you that Julia Child is one of the contributin...

I wish I had a picture of this to post for you. But I don't! Here's our dilemma . . . we want to eat Chinese food, But we can't find a Chinese food place we like. I'm not talking Pei Wei, although, that's nice fru-fru Chinese food. We just want noodles, rice, chicken, sauce. That's it! I make sticky rice at home occasionally. It is a gluten rice that makes it sticky. Get it!  "S.T.I.C.K.Y" rice? You can take a smidge, smoosh it together into a little ball and it stays. It's great for dipping in your Chinese sauce. If you have Chinese sauce. Which we don't always have. So we use soy sauce. But it's not the same. We want Chinese sauce. I found this recipe and made it. I think I've solved our dilemma for Chinese food! I'll make it at home and be very content! I got this from a website, but I have absolutely no idea where it came from . . .that was many weeks ago!  I'm very sorry if it cam...

I hate it when I have a recipe idea . . . and so do other people! Like the very same recipe I'm thinking of; they've already thought of! You know what that tells me? That tells me I'm pretty smart! If I can think of something that somebody else has already thought of, then my thinking is pretty creative! Don't you agree? Back to my real reason for a recipe! I love BBQ Chicken pizza. My cherubs -- not so much. But that's OK; they don't have to eat every day, do they? The other night, I made BBQ chicken and I withheld some chicken from my family so that I could try to come up with a dish that sounded very tasty to me in my mind: BBQ Chicken Pasta. But when I started thinking, I realized other's had thought too! But I love BBQ Chicken Pizza; so I want to love BBQ Chicken Pasta too! Here's what I created. Kind of! I took what other creative people before me had done and tweaked it a bit to fit my interested and ingredien...