I wonder where the heck winter has gone?  It’s not in North Alabama, that’s for sure!  I know many of you in other parts of the country have had it rough this year, but this January our thermometer registered in the seventies on eight days and only stayed below freezing for one.  Now don’t take me wrong, I’m not complaining about my personal comfort, or for that matter our power bill, but what’s up with this global warming?  It’s going to wipe soups and stews right off my menus.  (Now don’t get upset with me.  I do take environmental issues extremely seriously, but this blog is not the platform for that.)  Well, I guess we’ll just have to turn off the heat, open the kitchen door, and keep on cookin’!

Super Bowl Sunday started the week off with one of my favorite food groups, “football food”, also known as junk food in dress up clothes.  Why is it that a football game give us permission to chow down on huge amounts of fat laden proteins and carbs with very few veggies in sight?  Well, whatever the reason, we are always happy to comply.  Michael’s special pizza is reserved for the University of Alabama’s game days, so we skipped that one on Super Bowl Sunday.  Instead, I borrowed The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Meat Pies and added my own recipe for a Meat Pie Dipping Sauce.

Tiny Twice-Baked Potatoes stood in place for their full sized cousins on the snack plate. Those little two bite munchies are even more delicious if you top them with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of finely chopped chives, but I forgot the sour cream and didn’t have any chives.  We didn’t miss the addition.  The potatoes were delicious on their own.

A new variation on an old theme was Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms. There is one problem with this recipe. It makes too much! Michael and I both love stuffed mushrooms of any kind, and are often tempted by spinach and artichoke dips, but by the time we manage to make ourselves stop eating these as appetizers there usually just isn’t room for anything else. Well, we couldn’t even finish half of this stuffed mushroom recipe, as tasty as it was. Meatless Monday became leftover Football Food Monday.

The beauty of The Sticky Menu Plan is that you have the ability to pick and choose what you have for dinner on any given night. Tuesday’s dinner was slated to be Beef Stew for Two, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I wasn’t in the mood for beef and I wasn’t in the mood to cook. Stickies started dancing around the calendar and one more dinner of Grillades along with their companion, Quick and Light Cheese Grits waltzed right out of the freezer.  Sometimes the freezer is a wonderful thing.

Since the Grillades jumped in to save the day on Tuesday, Wednesday’s dinner was filled in by Thursday’s Frito Chili Pie.  I have no real recipe for this absolute junk food.  You just open a personal size bag of Frito corn chips, pile in some hot Chili along with some cheese and maybe a little lettuce, tomato, or onion, and there you are.  Were we on a junk food roll or what?

OK, back to the grown up world of cooking something with at least a little nutritional value. On Thursday I went back to Tuesday’s plan for Beef Stew for Two. With mushrooms and pearl onions, this is one of my favorite versions of beef stew. As I sometimes do, I left out the potatoes and served the stew in Mashed Potato Bowls. If you choose this option, go ahead and multiply the recipe. The stew will freeze well without the potatoes, which tend to turn mealy in the freezer.

We wound up the week right on schedule with one of Michael’s favorites, Bay Scallop Po’Boys. Those were on the menu last week, but the man at the fish counter had other ideas. No scallops were available last Friday. Sometimes those darned stickies have to slide a long way, but the po’boys were worth the wait.

It looks like this week will be another warm one, we’ll see.
Be thankful for what life gives you.

Don’t say anything at all. That’s what my Grandmother always taught me, and that’s the approach I’ll take now. We started the week with a belated 14th birthday celebration at Kaij’s choice of restaurant. Kaij is partial to white carbs topped with saturated fats and that is exactly what this place serves. Kaij was happy and it was his birthday, so we all were happy too. Enough said.

Meatless Monday Michael and I cleansed our palates with a nice pot of Free Broccoli Soup. This batch of soup wasn’t as free as the name indicates, as I started from scratch by purchasing the broccoli, but with the whole bunch of broccoli costing a whopping $2.50 who’s counting? I didn’t use all of the broccoli and there’s plenty of soup left for lunch later in the week, as well. That “free” soup goes a long way. Goldfish crackers make fun cheesy croutons if you keep those on hand, too.

Tuesday’s international fare wound up being a bit more complicated than I originally intended. The beef fajitas turned into both Steak and Chicken Fajitas because we wanted to break in the new grill that Santa brought Michael for Christmas. As long as we were having a christening, regular old flour tortillas wouldn’t do, either. All of a sudden I found myself making Mexican Gorditas to serve them in. What a pain! Oh well, no pain, no gain. The combination sure was delicious.

Wednesday evening I remembered what my freezer inventory was designed for and actually used it! Once I decided that I was in the mood for chicken (again) the chicken inventory page revealed that some very nice Herbed Chicken Croquettes were awaiting my attention. The freezer also produced a couple of cups of Rich Chicken Stock with which to make gravy. I added some Mashed Potatoes and a side of Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon and that used up the rest of the broccoli.  Wednesday’s dinner was delightfully full of comfort food but cost next to nothing.  Almost everything came from the freezer or pantry.

Thursday’s dinner was another Mexican fusion, La Marina. I borrowed this recipe straight from one of the restaurants we frequent. It may not be fair to refer to this dish as a “fusion” but I think of it as such because it features grilled fresh veggies and a mushroom sauce rather than the more common refried beans and red sauce. La Marina is much lighter and fresher than the usual Mexican restaurant offering.

We finished out the week with Cajun Jambalaya, minus the shrimp and the photo. Minus the shrimp because Michael was Shrimped-out for the week and minus the photo because it got late and I just forgot to take one. Oh well, use your imagination! Better yet, make yourself a batch of Cajun Jambalaya to enjoy.

We caught a good quote on TV last night, but I sure can’t tell you who said it. Any way,
“THIS IS THE YOUNGEST THAT WE WILL EVER BE.”
Now if you are still in your twenties, that won’t mean much to you, but for the rest of us, go for it!
Be thankful for what life gives you.

The Holidays are over. They have gone as quickly as they came. Some folks may call this time of year “Winter”, but for me it’s just Soup Season. It’s time to curl up on the couch with my husband and watch a movie, read a book, or just relax, while a pot of soup simmers on the back of the stove. No more rushing around trying to get everything done in time for….whatever.

Meatless Monday kicked things off with a bowl of Leek and Potato Soup. With only 220 calories in a good sized 14 ounce bowl, you could just about eat the whole pot of this yummy stuff. I wonder if those of you who are watching your carbs could sub in cauliflower for the potatoes? Probably so. I might have to try it, just to see.

Another favorite is My Chicken and Dumplings. It takes a little longer to prepare this one if you start your rich chicken stock from scratch rather than using broth in a box, but gosh is it worth it. You can employ the help of your slow cooker to make the broth if you don’t have time to baby sit the stock pot, and you’ll always know exactly what’s in there. My Chicken and Dumplings are a little tricky to handle and freeze. Once the dumplings are added you must be very gentle in stirring the pot so as not to break up those tender noodles. If you get too aggressive you’ll wind up with a big pot of mush.  This recipe does make a big pot, so we enjoyed it both Tuesday and Wednesday, before the remainder was packaged up for the freezer.

Thursday we entertained some old friends. Did I say “Old”? No, we’re not old! We entertained some folks we have known for a very long time and don’t now get to see often enough. We used to live across the street from one another, and our children grew up together. In the summer, Carol and I would often make an early morning trek to the farmers’ market with all four kids in tow to see what was the freshest produce of the day. When we got home we would park the kids under the willow tree to shuck corn or shell peas or whatever, and Carol and I would put up that produce for the winter. When the work was done and the guys got home, both families would get together for a fresh vegetable dinner. Often Carol, her husband Randy, and Michael would have chicken livers along with those veggies. Not me! I’d have a hot dog with the kids, thank you! Anyway, to make a long story short, when Carol and Randy came out to visit Thursday evening I fixed chicken livers for old times sake. (There’s that “old” word again!) Homemade Banana Pudding was a fitting nostalgic ending to our dinner together, although I did forget the hot dog.

Enough of that. By Friday I was ready for a change to my kind of food, seafood, that is. This time my entree of choice was Saucy Shrimp with Whole Corn Grits. Because the sauce contains chipotle chiles, these shrimp are a little spicier than some, but the heat level is easily controlled. The chiles give the sauce a pretty rosy pink color. Although I could scale down the recipe to make a smaller batch of grits, I always cook the full amount. You wouldn’t think frozen grits would make a palatable side dish, but they do if you heat them slowly and stir in just a little extra milk or broth in the process.

The shrimp and grits recipe gave me an excuse to play with one of my Christmas gifts from Michael, a new blender/food processor system. I give Michael a hard time about giving me gifts that have an electrical cord on them, but this time his gift was much needed and appreciated. Both the blender and the processor run on a common, very powerful, base.  My old blender was from the seventies and may have run on hamster power, and the old food processor had been stripped out by a too large batch of pizza dough. Out with the old and in with the new!

Speaking of pizza dough, it’s time to go pick up Michael’s last football pizza of the season. Tonight Alabama plays Clemson in the National College Football Championship. Keep your fingers crossed and ROLL TIDE!

Be thankful for what life gives you.

There’s less than a week left before Christmas Day, and still so much  to do. While I’ve gotten a good start on most everything, my to-do list is still far too long. It’s times like this that I rely on my Sticky Menu Plan. I find comfort in knowing what’s on the menu for dinner each night, that the groceries are on hand, and most of all, that if something pops up to change my plans all I have to do is shift my stickies around. I’ve planned to keep it simple this week. Leftovers, soups, and freezer foods are high on the list.
Last week was a different story, though. With the exception of Wednesday, when we met my sister and her husband for a late lunch, I did some power cooking every night.
Our dogs, Bella and Lizzie, are more than a little spoiled. Because Bella has food allergies and is on a limited diet, I make their treats myself. Whenever pork loins go on sale I purchase one to dehydrate small slices for them. Fortunately, the dogs don’t mind sharing, so a portion of the pork loin I bought last weekend became our Sunday dinner. Two nice thick chops were coated in Rib Rub and refrigerated early in the day. I intended to have Michael grill them outside, but the afternoon weather made that a bad idea. Grilling them stove-top worked just fine, although they were missing that smokey flavor.

Monday’s Szechwan Shrimp was originally planned for the previous Friday, but we changed our minds at the last minute and that sticky slid down the calendar. Since the shrimp were frozen there wasn’t any food safety issue in that. Unfortunately, Michael didn’t really care for the recipe. He’s funny about shrimp dishes. He either loves them or hates them, with little room in between. This one fell on the wrong side of the fence. I guess I’d best not make it again!
Tuesday’s dinner, Chicken Paprika, was much more warmly received. The recipe is designed to serve four, but rather than cut the whole recipe in half I just reduced the amount of chicken. We love our sauces! (Probably shouldn’t, but oh well!) I did serve whole wheat pasta so all that sauce had something to cling to. The whole wheat made the sauce healthy, right?

Thursday’s dinner was a new recipe, Beefy Mexican Lasagna. I wrote the recipe using a whole can of refried beans, but I think half that amount would be plenty. The problem is, I hate waste. What would you do with that other half can of beans? I guess you could offer them on the side, but that would be too much as well. I did prepare my staple Mexican side, Salsa Rice and some Guacamole salad rounded the meal out nicely.
Friday’s offering was a big pot of Alabama Coast Gumbo. I’m particularly proud of this recipe. If I may pat myself on the back, I think it’s as good as any and better than most gumbos. The recipe does take some time to prepare, but the ingredients are readily available, it makes a large quantity, and freezes well. I plop a big scoop of rice into the center of a steaming bowl, then sit back and imagine myself dining on the deck, enjoying the waves.

Enough daydreaming. Santa will be upset if he doesn’t get his cookies, and those gifts aren’t going to wrap themselves.
Be thankful for what life gives you.