A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

A loooong time ago, a friend of mine had a football watch party. At the party, she served all kinds of tailgate-type food. One of the things she served, of course, was nachos. But they were so much tastier than just plain 'ol nachos. She had "jazzed up" the meat that she put on the nachos. The other day, I texted her to ask what her recipe was. Remember, it was a long time ago . . . but I kind of helped to jog her memory and she gave me, "it was probably   . . . " " . . .or it could have been . . ." But thinking back to what it looked like, I went with the first option of possibility. Here's my dilemma:  I typically like tacos, etc, but I don't typically prefer the taco meat. It is usually dry. It's seasoned fine, but to me, it's just kinda dry. Not so dry you have to choke it down or chase it with a big glass of water. But just sorta dry. So I took my friend's suggestion, tweeked it a bit for what...

My boy cherub has loved oatmeal cookies since the time he could say, "cick-koo." And as a little guy, I knew exactly what he was saying when he asked! Not much has changed as he's grown . . . and oatmeal cookie is still a great treat to him. This week, he has been asking for dessert. Well, he and the girl cherub both! But I haven't made anything. Not because I didn't want to. But we were in and out so much this week, and we were all going to be gone this weekend, that I didn't think it was necessary to bake this week. But here it is, Sunday afternoon, and the weather is perfect, and the house is quiet, so I decided to make the cherubs happy and bake! I'm not really certain that I've made an oatmeal cookie since we've been gluten free, which has been about 2 1/2 years, so it's about time I get a good recipe! This one, I do think, is a keeper. If you're not gluten free . . . but you've kept reading...

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...

I'm a self-proclaimed ranch dressing snob. I like ranch dressing, but I'm particular about it. So please do not offer the bottled ranch dressing to me. It's not my preference. Which is a nice way of saying I don't like it. It's nothing against bottled ranch dressing . . . it's that I just don't really like most bottled dressings. Confession time is over;  back to the ranch dressing. I like good ranch dressing. Ranch dressing with flavor. Ranch dressing with zip. Ranch dressing with depth. Ranch dressing that has "character" to it. That's why I like this ranch dressing. I think I ought to call it "green ranch dressing," because I mix it together in a blender, which does change the color of the dressing. But if you want to mix it by hand, then I think you'll not call your dressing "green ranch dressing." So, why do I mix it together in the blender, you ask? Because I like it really, real...

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...

I can't even remember what I was fixing but I needed a side dish to serve with it. Oh wait!  Just typing that sentence made me remember what I was making! Ham! Which reminded me . . . I'm going to post my ham recipe! But not right now. Right now, it is about the potatoes. Since I was making a ham, I wanted to have a complete meal. You know, not the one-dish-call-it-good meal. But a meal that resembled thought, and preparation, and time, and love, and all those things! I had some potatoes in the refrigerator. I keep my potatoes there because I don't use them fast enough to keep them in a cute potato basket. Because if I kept them in a cute potato basket, my potatoes would be gross. And unusable. So I keep them cold so they won't get gross so fast. Now, before you start thinking about all the bad things that happen to cold potatoes. I know. The starch changes to sugar. They don't taste the same as if you store them ...

By the looks of it, you might think it's been a slow month at our house! Truthfully, though, it's been kinda busy. Just this month, we have spent a week in the mountains, prepared for the start of school, and I've gotten to share with a group of ladies about meal preparation. That's why I decided to write today. Because of my time with the moms. It got me thinking. One of the things I did at the cooking class was show how to prepare five meals with five pounds of ground beef. Easy enough. But there was really more to it than that. The "more to it" was this: eating at home is cheaper than eating out. cooking at home tastes better than eating out. cooking takes a little bit of prep, but it's worth the effort eating dinner together, as a family, is more than the meal; it's about sharing together   For some, cooking is intimidating. But I've shared this thought with so many . . .and I shared it with the moms at the cooking c...