Holy PoTAtoE Batman!

I have a few loves in my life:
naps
reading
chocolate milk
shrimp dip
cookie dough, cake batter, brownie batter etc
and
POTATOES!
So when someone sent me a link about potatoes I had to check it out.
Seriously...this is awesome!

I have a secret

recipe...
I got it from a crazy source.
I need someone else to make it
and
give me feed back
before I share it publicly.
If you like bisque soup
and
want to play
email
call
bring/send treats.

Oh, it just gets better

Let me set the scene:

Mother of the year, takes her two wonderful sons to a cooking class.
Food was delicious and not tooo hard to make
so realistic mother of the year agrees to make food at home.
Hard working father pays for large grocery bill
due to quality ingredients needed for French and Greek food.

First, the loving mother of the year and chef son make Sundried Tomato and Basil Hummus
Verdict: Not as good as the Cooking Goddess'
Humble mother of year calls Cooking Goddess for advice
Salt
sons with a death wish won't try improved version

Next, ever so patient mother of year and son who is walking a thin line
make Chicken Fricassee
Chicken is cooking
time to add stock and white wine
yes, I did go to the store and for the first time in my entire life buy wine
that would be a WHOLE 'nother post
So, non-alcoholic mother of the year measures stock and then pulls out bottle of wine
crap
it's not a screw top
scrambling mother of the year instructs side kick son to google
how to open a wine bottle
(ok seriously of all the things I thought I'd never say to one of my children
this has to be at the top of the list)
first cork screw (attached to cheap can opener)
breaks
mother of the year now getting desperate sends pirate son
to hunt for another cork screw...(we have to have one somewhere don't we?)
cabela's multi tool...no
generic multi tool...no
last hope...swiss army knife in back of father of the year's night stand...SCORE!
eventually mother of the year and chef son open wine bottle
and continue cooking what had dang well better be the most delicious
and appreciated dinner this year!

family of the year sits down to dinner
verdict: Not as good as the Cooking Goddesses
son who deserves to go to bed with no dinner says
"It must be her pans and her plates 'cause she didn't even make the food, the class did."
older and wiser son says
"we just need to wait a month before we cook any of her food"

done!

Pictures by Zac (aka chef, side kick, walker of thin line etc)

Thanksgiving left over goodness!

Confession...I saw this on the food network and purposely made green bean casserole so I could make this. I don't like it and we usually have lots left over I end up tossing...oh, not this year!

I don't watch a lot of Food Network Chefs but I do have Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee set on the DVR.I've learned so many trick...if you haven't seen her show...check it out.

Anyway...here is a yummy, quick left over dinner idea....she calls them Next Day Empanadas.


May I just say...where have I been...parchment paper rocks! If you don't have some...go, seriously...go get some and USE it!

My adaptations are: made my own pie crust...it's fast and easy; used turkey and drop of gravy instead of potatoes and Mexican seasoning. Let me know if you make them and what you do to put your own spin on them.

Bonus recipe from Sandra I also recommend: Turkey Chilaquiles

a painful farewell

I'm in mouring.
i had to let a new friend go.

iT pains me
I'm having Withdrawals

the worst part is...I was duped

so that none of you experience the same TramA i'll share the depressig details

Last January Gary and I gave up all soda.
it wasn't as hard as I expected, except for the ice.
I lOVe good ice...you KnoW what I mean
sonic, sams, zaxby's

i adjusted..most places have lemonade, but sometimes I need a change.

then, sOnic introduced 1/2 pRice hAppY hr...oH, haPpy Day!
Cranberry slush
real fruit slushes
....life was gOOd!!!

....until yesterday....
when I made a necessary but tragic discovery on the SoNic website
a rt 44 cranberry slush has 616 calories (I could live with that occassionally) and
166 carbs!
You've got to be freakin' kiddin' me....
166
are they out of their minds!

just for comparison
a rt 44 coke has 371 calories and 101 carbs
a large tropical smoothie has 593 calories 146 carbs
a large chocolate malt has 844 calories and 144 carbs

there is no justice in this world.
I've switched over to dark chocolate
given up soda
don't keep chips, cookies, related junk in the house
don't eat fast food
and now...now they've taken away my last drive thru bright spot

....I can't talk about this anymore
....it's just too painful

I

Everyone needs their own Cooking Goddess, but...

you can't have mine. I'm not sharing, so don't even ask! I've been working on this post for awhile and I'm posting it now because she could use your prayers. She's been in the hospital...imagine her torture...sick and having do deal with hospital FOOD! Anyway, I hope it makes you chuckle and remember to send a little love and healing her way. (Note to Cooking Goddess...you may want to either skip this post or have a paper bag handy for any hyperventilation that may occur)

She has changed my life in the following ways:

1. I no longer put my knives in the dishwasher (usually)
   
2. My boys willing help with the cooking and prep work including chopping and cutting (they cut a mean green pepper...safely and properly)
3. I'm in stirring therapy and re-eduation
   
4. Occasionally, I now break one or two of my cooking rules .
5. I can make a Rue and I'm looking forward to making gravy at Thanksgiving
6. I want a digital meat thermometer and I know how to use it
7. My picky, picky daughter has eaten all sorts of new foods and LOVED them
8. I wash off the tops of cans before I open them....more often that I used too...don't even ask...
   
9. I plan my menus a week or two in advance using what's on sale
10. I look forward to dinner time
11. I allow other people to cook with garlic in my kitchen, sometimes.
12. We now have kosher salt and sea salt. We're using up our regular salt and will not buy it ever, ever again!
13. I've kept a basil plant alive longer than two months and I'm using it. Oh, I love the smell of fresh basil...hmmm I'm gonna go get a fix right now.
    
14. Cooking is fun!!!
    
15. If we can keep up the current learning curve...my boys should be doing all the cooking by the time they turn 14....need I say more?
    

I love the person that invented the CrockPot!

Ok, so this post is kind of random, but since we still have two birthdays to go this month I thought I'd break up the celebrating by sharing my favorite CrockPot recipe and cooking blog! If you haven't been to A Year of CrookPotting...go! Go, as soon as you finish reading this post, of course.

When it come to making dinner I have rules (shh don't tell the Cooking Goddess. I don't want her to give up on me or lose my privileges...more on that later)
One: Quick prep
Two: Use the least amount of bowls, dishes, pans etc as possible
Three: Healthy, inexpensive and easy
Four: One dish meals rock!
Five: If I make it everyone tries it! Then you get to vote if we have it again.

The other night I made Stephanie's Creamy Corn and Spinach Enchiladas CrockPot Recipe. You must know I've never made enchiladas in my life and really probably never would have because they seemed like too much work and would require multiple side dishes. Then I saw Stephanie's recipe and it included two veggies. So I thought what the heck...can I just say, "Oh, my Yum!" I did make a slight variation that worked out great. I realized after I had the enchiladas all rolled and in the pot that I'd bought "hot" sauce ( I don't do hot) so I vented the lid with a toothpick and turned it on the slowest setting ( 8 hours, maybe) while I ran errands. About two hours later which was also about half an hour before I wanted to serve dinner, I got home and mixed the enchiladas sauce, sour cream poured it over the enchiladas and then topped with cheese. They stayed together perfectly. I also used flour tortillas for half and low carb tortillas for the other half (her recipes are gluten free so she used corn.) The flour wouldn't have lasted much longer, but the low carb ones had plenty of holding power left.

Let me know if you make this or something else yummy...it's nice to share and COMMENT ;D (hint, hint...with Mychel-Anne deserting me I need interaction)

This isn't a cooking blog

My new favorite person in the world, who is also a professional chef, has worked a miracle. We'll call her the Cooking Goddess. On Thursday the C.G. gave her first cooking class. We made Fetucci Alfredo. It is one of my ever so very picky seventeen yr old daughter's favorites...so I dragged her to the class with me. Not only did she enjoy it...she made it for us for dinner tonight...all by herself...and she cleaned up after. This is the child that used to cook with me all the time when she was little, but in the last few year has become an expert at whinning, complaining and feigning helplessness to get out of doing nearly everything in the kitchen. Don't even get me started on our dishwasher issues. There wasn't much left over, but I can still taste it calling me for a little bedtime snack. I'd share with you if I could...ok that's a lie, but I would give you the recipe. It's a good thing she had a friend over or I would have licked the plate! Oh, and who is the mother of those boys that look like little piggies shoveling the pasta in their snouts? Someone teach them some manners

1 Chicken = how many meals?

My new obsession is seeing how many meals I can get from cooking once - like making a roast and then having left overs and a pot pie. I've started making my own chicken broth. It's really easy. I get meat cooked at the same time, and it makes me feel all domestic goddess! Here is my list for the latest whole chicken plus a few legs and thighs...they were even cheaper a pound than the whole chicken. 1. Chicken Quesadillas 2. Chicken Salad 3. Chicken Noodle Soup 4. Spaghetti with Chicken. So anyone wanna share any of their time saving meal tips?