Wonderful and Glorious November

I am loving the weather we have here today. 70's, brilliant sunshine and clear blue sky. This is the kind of day you badly want to play hooky from life and go play. Maybe a fire in the chiminea and a glass of hot cider.

I am cooking 6 whole briskets in the oven here at school with dry onion soup mix rubbed into them. Everyone who comes near the kitchen falls all over themselves trying to figure where the food is. It smells like fall with the aroma wafting out of the two convection ovens. I think I may need to fix brisket this weekend at home.

I have been cooking, Monday was Tacos with home made re-fried black beans. These were left over Turtle Black beans I made in the crock pot a couple of weeks ago. I purchased heirloom beans and since they were not cheap I froze the left overs. The beans were so yummy. These beans tasted different then usual beans I get at the store. They were rich, meaty and almost with a sweet after taste. I will buy these again and again.

Tuesday I had a cooking show and we made Chicken Tortilla Soup and After Dinner Mint Triangles. They licked the pot clean of the soup. The dessert was excellent, but a little went a very long ways.

So last night was left over pot roast and potatoes cut up into a gravy with peas and carrots served with my No-Knead Bread. That pot got licked clean as well. No one home for dinner tonight so who knows.

Things happen in threes!

It is strange how life feeds to trouble in threes! My washer of 20 years has finally developed too many problems to warrant any more work. So we have been looking at replacing the set. The washer was pulled out and just sitting there looking old. The dryer takes way to long to dry a single load.

So we get home last night and the faucet on the tub will not shut off! So hubby gets a kit to fix it and turns off the water to the house and works at it. Gets that fixed and the water heater is not heating!!! Now we have a Whirlpool Flame Lock gas water heater. Google this and you will see our pain. Due to government regulations, you can not just light this tank, you can not see if the pilot lot is even lit, you can not just fix it. You will need to call whirlpool and get to talk to someone all the way across the world, India, and try to understand what is being said. When you realize that they can not, will not help you, you call someone who understand the language of water heater. 200.00 the first time and only 147.00 the second time we have replaced the thermocouple. The last one was only 2 months ago. We need to purchase a new tank, at the sweet tune of 700.00 plus. So imagine that sinking feeling when the water heater is not heating water, again.

Well hubby worked on it and worked on it, did I mention the water heater is evil? But he did won it and got it lit!!!!! I love hot water!!!!!

Then meanwhile I think we found a used washer dryer set (2 years old) for 325.00 plus for another 35.00 they will deliver and take the old ones away! Thank you Lord, I needed this!

I'm Back!

At least I hope so. It has been a busy year so far. I am teaching two cooking classes for kids. I am starting my own Pampered Chef Business. I am still working full time, and I am still cooking. So with that said life has been busy. I am going to redefine this blog a bit and make it fit my schedule, not what I think it should be, but what I choose to make it.

With that said here is a new recipe:

Thai Chicken Stir-Fry Salad

The Pampered Chef

1 lb of chicken breast cooked and diced

1 bag of baby spinach

1 English cucumber (they are in the produce dept. wrapped in plastic, very mild), cut into half moons

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 package of broccoli slaw

1/2 cup of dry roasted peanuts finely chopped

Dressing

3/4 cup of poppy seed dressing

1 t. of grated ginger

2 cloves of garlic pressed

Mix well

Layer the salad with spinach, cucumbers, red bell pepper, broccoli slaw, peanuts and chicken. Pour dressing over this and mix well.

I will double the dressing for this and after you make this once you will understand. Who ever thought of putting this dressing together should get an Emmy! It is way to good.

My hubby and I are escaping for the weekend. This will be a first for us in 20 years. I am really looking forward to this.

Make the recipe this weekend and have fun!

July 6-12 meal plan

I am trying to make sure that there is something for dinner every single night this week. We will not be going out to eat unless it is a special occasion. Such as Thursday which is my sons 18th birthday. We are surprising him with a family dinner out to Red Robin.

So with that said lets take a look at this week:

Monday-Fresh Green Beans with New Potatoes and Bacon

Walnut Bread

Smoked Sausage

Tuesday-Crock-Pot Beans (adzuki) with bay Leaves

Texmati Rice

Whisk Bread

Wednesday-Grilled Chicken and Vegetables

Whole Wheat Pasta

Thursday-Red Robin

Friday-No Knead Pizza with Veggies and left over chicken from Wednesday

Salad with home made dressing

Saturday-Black Bean Chili with stew meat and Cornbread

Sunday- Left overs from the week and whisk bread.....

I need lunches for my two daughters and my husband. My son and I work at a school and feed a daycare center so we have lunch each day.

Breakfast is no-sugar cereal, eggs, toast, muffins (oatmeal from scratch) or nothing. That is their choice.

Fresh Green Beans with New Potatoes-

1-2 lbs of green beans

2 lbs of new potatoes either red or white

1 T. kosher salt

2-3 dry bay leaves

enough water to cover

1-2 ham hocks or some cooked bacon or even a large ham slice cut into hunks

Trim the stalk end of the green beans and scrub the potatoes. Place them in a large pot or a crock pot, add just enough water to cover. Turn burner on high, or the crock pot on high. Salt the water well and throw in a couple of bay leaves. You can keep the crock pot on high or turn it to low to fit your time schedule. If you do them on the stove they will only take about an hour on low. I like to do this slow and low to develop the flavor. I will also add a ham hock or cooked bacon or even a hunk of good ham. Serve with some type of bread or fresh made corn bread.

Beans Beans everywhere Beans

I am cooking more beans for our family. We want to cut back on meat and reduce our food bill a bit, or a lot. So I have been stock-up on beans. I am hunting up heirloom beans, but they are hard to find. So I will make do with what I can find.
Tonight we are having fresh green beans, new potatoes and a ham hock. I also have a loaf of walnut bread to go with it. I will soak my red and white beans tonight for dinner tomorrow. I also found organic light brown Texmati rice, should be good with it.

Clare comes home tonight, my youngest. She has been on a cruise with a friend. The little world traveler! I know she has had fun, but it will be nice to have her home again. She has been away for 8 days!

Here is a new site to check out cookforgood.com read, buy and tell me what you think.

A new post, finally...

It has been a while, but life at a school becomes insane in the last two months, then I take off most of June and just chill. I had a friend tell me about her view of summer, June is like Friday night, do nothing but play, July is like Sat. still playing but the weekend is closing, then August is Sunday night and you have to pull it all together, fast!

So I am just starting my Sat. I have a bit more time.

I have found some new food sites that I am in love with. You may not agree with everything, but I do respect what they have to say about food and it's production.

Check out

www.foodrenagade.com

www.cookforgood.com

My cooking class will be taken from the "Cook for Good" e-books. I strongly suggest you purchase them and glean from them. Linda Watson has done her homework and I am very impressed! Read through her site and enjoy.

More later...

Spring Break

We just got back from my in-laws. All had a fun time catching up and talking all at once, and filling everyone in on each others lives. There was a new baby and that of course became the centre of my world. She was tiny, pink and adorable, of course. It was my mother- in- laws 82 birthday. So my girls and I followed hubby and first born son out to the far reaches of Western Kansas, which is in the middle of nowhere. It is a 5 hour trip with very little electronics, and once we got out there, no electronics. So my children had to learn to interact and use words (instead of texting) to fill the time up. It worked.

We got back late last night and hit the bed. Two girls with head colds, on messy house and spring break starts! Yeah!

I made a roast for lunch today after church and it was great. I tried something new, so give it a try and see if you like it...

Dutch Oven Pot Roast

I have a 3 qt. cast iron dutch oven. I use to make my "no Knead Bread" but look for other uses.

2-3 lb roast

1 lb of red potatoes

1/2 bag of frozen pearl onions

1/2 lb of baby carrots

1 cup of water

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Heat the dutch oven (hear by known as the DO) with a couple of globs of Crisco. Let this heat up on the stove top.

Mix 1/2 c flour, several grinds of black pepper, 1 T. kosher salt, and 1 t. of garlic powder- mix well. Dust your roast in the flour covering all sides. Carefully place your roast into the hot DO and let it sit for about 5 minutes, turn the heat down a bit. When browned, turn over, raise the heat a bit. Let this sizzle for 4 minutes. Turn the heat off and pour very carefully the cup of water, this is going to bubble and spit. Using a spoon, or tongs, slosh the water around the roast, to pick up the browned bits on the bottom. Add your veggies on top, cover and bake for about 4 hours at 350. Now what I did a bit different is, I heated my oven to 400, placed the DO with roast in veggies inside. Went and got ready for church, could start to smell roast, smelled heavenly. As we were leaving for church (about an hour of get ready time), I turned the roast down to 350 (church from 10:05 till home at 12:30).

The roast was caramelized, the veggies were wonderful, only there was no liquid left for gravy. Heat break! So I removed roast with a thick caramelized underside (some would say burnt, we don't) and scraped the carrots and pearl onions out as best as I could. They were very stubborn. Heated the pan on the stove and added one cup of cold water. It deglazed, at least some of it did. Add a packet of gravy mix (hey, we are moms and we do what we need to do!).

It was so good!!!!!! The caramelized parts were full of flavor and the gravy had pieces of the veggies in it. WE devoured the roast!