A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

Love New Mexican foods. Really! Red chili. Green chili. "Christmas on the side." Posole. Stuffed sopapillas. All of it! For years, we have enjoyed roasted hatch chilies during "roasting season." Sometimes, we've been in New Mexico and have brought them back with us. Other times, we've over-paid for them and purchased the roasted chilies from a local Texas grocery store. Then there are times when we buy the chilies and roast them ourselves. It's not hard. It's a little time consuming. But the end result is satisfying and tasty! This season, the Mr. purchased five pounds of hatch chilies and we did the work ourselves. Five pounds sounds like a lot. But it isn't. Sadly. We were able to fill one quart jar of roasted chopped chilies. Now, when you buy hatch chilies, you need to know if you are getting mild or hot chilies. There is a difference. Hot . . .is, well, HOT! I honestly think we have a mix. Whic...

By the looks of the blog, we haven't been eating, but by the looks of my waist-line, that's not the case! While we have certainly had meals between the last post and today, there hasn't been just a lot of time to experiment with new recipes. However, we have made a few new dishes and enjoyed laughter, friends, and family around the table. Now that school is just around the corner for our youngest cherub and we just moved our oldest cherub back to college for dorm living, I hope to resume to blog posting. What that translates for my family is "food!" This summer, we made this easy-to-fix, easy-to-serve salad several times. While the corn growing season may have already passed it's peak, you can still find fresh corn at farmer's markets and your local grocery store. And with just a few simple ingredients, that you probably already have on hand, you can toss this up in no time. What I like about this salad is the flexibility; whether...

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...

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...

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! ...

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...

This was my Mother's Day lunch. I say " my " because we each had different stuff. It was like being at a restaurant but it was at home. It was so fun! On Saturday, we went to one of our favorite grocery stores . . . yes, we have a "favorite" grocery store! We decided to have corn on the cob, a salad, and gluten-free cornbread. Then, we headed to the meat market and we all picked out whatever kind of meat/fish/chicken we wanted to grill. I picked a filet. I never pick a filet. Ever . But it just looked good! It's amazing that fresh, red, uncooked meat can look good! I asked for the smallest cut, because I'm not a steak eater. At lunch, I was so sad I hadn't asked for a bigger steak. It was perfection! Pure perfection! Matter of fact, it was the hit of the lunch table. The Mr. and the cherubs were so envious of my creation! I love being a mother! Coffee-Crusted Steak 1 favorite cut of steak Sea Salt Fresh ...

Bottom line:  we love grilled salmon! It is one of our very favorite things to make at home. I adore the grilled salmon on top of our "go to salad," as our cherubs call it!  It's a spinach salad with dried cranberries, chopped purple onion, sliced strawberries, roasted almonds or pecans, slices of mandarin oranges, shaved Monterrey Jack cheese, and a lemon poppyseed dressing. But truthfully, I'll eat grilled salmon with just about anything! Remember the other night the Mr. and the cherubs made dinner for me when I returned home? Besides the delish vanilla cupcakes and the roasted brussel sprouts, they made grilled salmon. It was fantastic! You can't mess up grilled salmon, unless, of course, you burn it. But other than that, your imagination is your ticket to the flavor train! This is our basic seasoning for the fish. Grilled Salmon 1 large fresh salmon fillet olive oil salt/pepper lemon pepper (or any seasoning of your choice) garlic...

This is the last of the peach posts. This is for peach salsa. It's easy and fresh tasting. It's a bit of a jolt to your taste buds because you're not sure what to expect. I've always got a keeper when the cherubs like the recipe . . .  . . . and the cherubs like this! It's probably because I served Stacy's Cinnamon and Sugar Pita Chips along side this salsa! Either way, it's good as a dip or atop grilled chicken! Peach Salsa 4 small peaches, diced 2 limes, juiced 2 tsp. honey 2-3 TBSP finely diced red bell pepper 2 TBSP finely chopped purple OR sweet onion 1 TBSP cilantro 1 TBSP finely minced jalapeno pepper, if desired. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Flavors of salsa are melded together if allowed to sit at least 4 hours or overnight.  Serve with grilled meat (anything except beef) or with chips or cinnamon chips.

Photo taken by my oldest Cherub A grilled chicken sandwich sounded so good! I see them on restaurant menus but I never make them at home. I'm not sure why -- maybe I'm intimidated by the task. In an effort to satisfy my craving, I ventured out of my comfort zone and made this: Photo taken by my youngest Cherub A delicious grilled chicken teriyaki sandwich! Here's what I did: Grilled Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded out to similar thickness 1 bottle of your favorite teriyaki sauce (I used La Choy Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce) 1-2 onions, sliced thick 4 Hawaiian Hamburger buns Mayonnaise 1 small can crushed pineapple, well drained lettuce or spinach leaves In a shallow dish, pour desired amount of teriyaki sauce over chicken and allow to marinate 2-3 hours our longer (I always go longer!).  In another shallow dish, place a thin layer of sauce in the dish and place the thick ...

Seriously, how much Mexican food can one family eat? Some of my favorite Mexican  food is the simple "authentic" kind.  Not the Tex-Mex that most of us are used to. By simple I mean . . . simple.  Yummy flavors that pop. Minimal ingredients that are maximum on taste. And finally, not covered in yellow, stringy, gooey cheese (like Tex-Mex can be). Here's a recipe for authentic chicken tacos.  You might see it called pollo asado, which means "roasted or grilled chicken."  That's pretty simple! Chicken Tacos Choose what type of chicken you're going to use.  It does need to be with the bone and skin. I used quarters (which includes the leg and thigh).  My package of quarters had 3 quarters -- which was enough for my family of 4. Marinade : 1/2 cup of olive oil 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 1/3 cup lime juice 2 lemons, juiced 2 tsp. vinegar 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper Pour the marinade o...

A long time ago I got a delicious recipe from a great friend.  That recipe is called "Stuffed Flank Steak." Whenever we have this fabulous meal, we always think about our friends, Eric and Peggy . . .  . . . and we usually laugh over some long-lost memory!  Both the steak and the friends are great. The other day, I was going to make her recipe.  But when I opened the flank steak, I realized it was to thin to stuff. What a bummer! So, I decided to use some of the ingredients to make a sauce . . .kind of like smothered steak rather than stuffed. It was equally delicious!  My girl cherub, who could really be a vegetarian, ate 2 pieces of the meat!  She's even asked for this dinner for her birthday . . .in JANUARY!!!  So if the self-proclaimed vegetarian ate the meat -- it must be good! Onion and Parmesan Cheese Sauce 1 onion, sliced 1/4 cup butter 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 Parmesan cheese* Slice the onions -- not to thin and not t...

I realize this probably isn't the best picture to post first!  In your mind you're going, "Gross!  What is that?"  If you need to spoil the ending -- then scroll down and see what we're going to end up with!  But if you do that, just know you're going to have to come back to this picture so that you can read the rest . . . it's kind of like a good book! Line a baking pan with foil and place your bacon on the pan.  Place pan in a pre-heated 400 degree oven.  You only want to partially cook the bacon -- so probably about 7 to 10 minutes.  Each oven is different, but you're basically wanting a floppy, half-done piece of bacon.  If you're a bacon connoisseur, then you know there is a difference in bacon!  For this recipe, I prefer to use a thicker slice of bacon.  If you prefer the same, you'll need to purchase a "thick cut" brand, such as Wright's.  However, if you prefer thin bacon, than most any brand at the store wil...