Consider Me Comforted

So I started some pintos soaking last night for tonight's supper and then threw em in the crock pot this morning with a few slices of bacon and let them simmer alllllll day. A little salt, some pepper, some creole seasoning, onion powder and garlic powder (i'd use the veggies but the hubby is opposed to "bits" in his food)... and they were perfect! I made a pan of corn bread in the cast iron skillet to go with them and now ... two bowls of beans later all I need is a nap.

Ya-ya actually ate a small bowl of beans and then... Hold the phone!... she asked for some of the left over spicy chicken stew from yesterday!!! HOT DOG! See... getting Ya-ya to eat more than junk food is usually a fight. She usually spends the entire dinner time bargaining her way through.

"How many more bites do I have to eat before I can get up?"

"If I eat three more bites, can a I have a cookie?"

You can see she is concerned with only eating as little as she can possibly get away with. I am of the mindset that you shouldn't force a child to clean their plate off because it teaches them bad eating habits, but if I only put 5 greenbeans on her plate she should be able to finish that... don't you think? Anyway, I was completely floored that she actually asked for not only MORE supper, but for left overs from last night. The stew is definitely a keeper.

I decided to try this recipe for a No Bake peanut butter pie. The recipe made enough for me to fill 3 oreo pie crusts, even though recipe said it made only 2. Considering that I was taste testing the whole way through, I'm thinking it's probably a good thing it made an extra pie.....because I'm not going to be able resist eating some before monday. I'm hoping that I can control myself enough not to go hide in the closet with a pie and a spoon and just go at it. I mean come on... it's like a giant refridgerated reese's cup. Mmmmmmm peanut butttttterrrr.

Supper

SPICY CHICKEN BLACK BEAN AND CORN STEW

This is what I made for supper tonight and it was FANTASTIC! This is Suzanne's Recipe and the original recipe just for reference sake. I kind of combined the two so this is "my" recipe:

2-3 cups of cooked chicken, chopped small
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
1 (14.5 oz) can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of Pace Picante' Sauce (mild)
3-4 cups of Chicken broth
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp paprika

Put the chicken, beans, corn tomato sauce and salsa into a crock pot. Cover with enough broth to reach your desired consistency. I used about 3-4 cups because I wanted mine to be between a thick stew and a soup. Add the seasonings and give it all a good stir. Heat on high until bubbly (about 3 hours) and then reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve.

This was awesome with some homemade cornbread. Ya-ya had a little with some cheese and sour cream, but I thought it was fantastic just plain. It didn't even need salt. Yummers!

What I did today:

I have been steadily poking and lurking around Chickens in the Road ever since I followed a link from Not Hannah's post for a homemade pop tart recipe and got a bit inspired. The blog's writer makes what she has termed "Grandmother Bread" which is a very similar recipe to a recipe that I often use to make bread.

I grew up on homemade bread. When we were little, Momma would make it all the time just for us to enjoy. As we made our way through grade school, she would send the loaves, still warm from the oven as gifts for all of our teachers. Being that we went to a small school and that there were 3 of us girls at the time, she got a reputation very fast and I remember that by the time I reached 4th grade my teacher was excited to have me in the class just because it meant she got a loaf of bread for thanksgiving and Christmas.

As we got older, we didn't really get treated to homemade bread as often. It became more of an event thing that Momma would make for church functions and weddings and that kind of thing. Now we're pretty lucky if we even get bread for Thanksgiving dinner at Momma's. Mostly she just cheats and uses the loaves from Schwan's. I gotta tell you.... it's kind of disappointing. *Laughs*

A few years ago, I got a hankering (yes, a hankering.. I am from the South after all) that just wouldn't quit for some homemade bread. I called Momma and had her email the "recipe" which is really very vague. It contains instructions like "a little of this and some of that." Her go-to recipe is one she kind of made up, putting things she had gleaned from other recipes all together, and requires that you make a starter. Now sometimes, when I'm really in the mood to spend that much time on bread, I'll make that recipe, but mostly I just use this recipe for Amish White Bread from allrecipes.

As I said, it's very close to Suzanne's recipe for Grandmother Bread except that the original recipe calls for a bit more sugar and a little more yeast. The Amish recipe also calls for 1/4 cup of oil, which hers does not. But both are dairy and egg free and VERY EASY. I would say practically fool proof. I love the Amish recipe. It's quick, calls for very little ingredients and it's extremely versatile. You can reduce the amount of sugar quite a bit without affecting the outcome of the recipe or the taste. Of course, made as is, the bread is a bit sweeter, but if you use the full amount called for it makes awesome cinnamon bread, sweet rolls, and so forth. Also sometimes, like today, I added a couple of cups of whole wheat flour in place of the All purpose and it's still amazing.

I just took it out of the oven about 25 minutes ago and between my husband and I we've already eaten about half a loaf. MMMMmmmm. There is just something so satisfying about eating bread you've made yourself. The whole process of kneading the dough is such a relaxing stress reliever. I feel so much better now. I don't know why I don't do this more often. I think I'm going to set a goal to make bread at least once a week. And who knows... maybe I'll even send a loaf or two to Ya-Ya's preschool teachers. I wonder if people would still appreciate something like that?

Tonight's Dinner: Lasagna Roll Ups:

Yum! I love these. It's basically all of the same things that you would put in a regular lasagna but rather than layering it, you spread your fillers onto lasagna noodles and then roll them up. It makes for a very pretty presentation and each roll up is the perfect serving size too. Company loves it. Plus the rolls freeze really well for lunch leftovers later on in the week. The recipe is very versatile too and allows for many different options.

Lasagna Roll Ups:

12 uncooked lasagna noodles

1 (15 oz) container part skim Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 egg

~2 cups spaghetti sauce (Use homemade, jar, can, meat sauce, non-meat, whatever your preference)

1 cup chopped spinach (optional of course)

1 9x13 inch baking dish

* Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. I usually leave mine just a tiny bit underdone so they don't turn to mush.

* Mix together the Ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and 3/4 cup of the Mozzarella cheese. Add the egg, the onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and the spinach. Mix well and set aside. (Side note- the original recipe calls for soft tofu to be mixed in with the cheese if you are a no-meat-eater person and having tried it, it's pretty darn good)

* Spread a thin layer of sauce into the bottom of the casserole pan to keep the noodles from sticking.

* After the noodles are done, drain them and spread them onto a cookie sheet to cool a bit.

* Begin by spreading a layer of the cheese filling the entire length of one noodle. Add a layer of sauce on top of that. Then starting at one end, roll the noodle up and then place in the casserole dish, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining noodles. My 9x13 inch pans fits them perfectly 3 to each row.

* Spread the remaining sauce over the tops of the roll ups and then sprinkle with the remaining Mozzarella cheese.

* Bake @ 375 for 25-35 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is all melty and delicious. Enjoy! YUMMY!

A Twist on an Old Favorite

So I was chatting on the phone with my friend Barb this morning and we start talking about what we're doing for dinner and then she says: "I'm making a taco roast."

"A what?!"

"A taco roast, you've never heard of it?!"

"NO!! TELL ME!! TELL ME NOW FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY!!!"

So she tells me, and then I make it and OH-EM-GEE... it is deeeeleeecious! You have to try it. If you love pot roast and if you also love tacos... then do this! Seriously:

Put a 2-5 lb beef chuck roast (or pork if that is your preference, but I did the beef. PS- I used a 2 lb roast and it made A TON) into your crock pot and cover it with water. You want to have about 1/2-1 inch of water standing on top of the roast. Then toss in one packet of your favorite taco seasoning. Simmer the roast in the crock pot on high for about 4-5 hours. Remove the roast and using the two fork method, shred the beef.

Now comes the good part. Heat a large skillet on the stove to a medium-high heat. Laddle in about 1/2 cup of the left over taco-y juice that is now in your crock pot and then toss in a big tablespoon of cornstarch. Begin whisking this together to incorporate the cornstarch. As it begins to thicken, forming a sort of roux, start adding in more of the taco juice a little bit at a time. Then start re-adding the shredded beef. Bring this deliciousness up to a boil and start letting the liquids reduce. Add more of the juice and continue letting it all simmer. I ended up using just about all of the left over juices from the crock pot and then just kept letting it all cook down and reduce. It makes the meat OH SO TENDER and juicy and taco-y.

When your taco meat is done to your liking serve in taco shells or with warm tortillas and all of your favorite taco fixings. It's amazing. It's SERIOUSLY GOOD! Your husband will fall on his knees and worship you! Or at least grunt out how good it is between bites of taco-y yumminess. Enjoy. And you're welcome ahead of time.

Turn Back NOW

So a little over a week ago, I saw this post for Apricot Bars over at Tammie's Blog, who got it from Daphne, who in turn got it from The Pioneer Woman.

Now Apricot is not exactly my favorite, but I thought I'd give the recipe a try anyway because the oatmeal part sounded delicious. The first time I made them I only made a few adjustments:

1.) I used "I can't believe it's NOT butter" sticks instead of regular butter (to help cut down on the guilt, you see)

2.) I used apple butter in place of the apricot preserves for the filling

3.) I added 1 tbsp of cinnamon and a pinch of cloves to the oatmeal batter stuff to compliment the apples.

They were delicious. Outstanding. I ate them screaming hot, right out of the pan, they smelled so good I just couldn't help myself.

THAT however, is not the worst of it. I'm warning you: If you are on a diet, if you are trying to watch your weight or waist line, or what have you. TURN BACK NOW. Absolutely DO NOT read any further. Just don't... because once you do.. there is no going back. You have been warned. Just remember that.

The worst part is, after I (sadly)ate the last of my apple butter bars this morning for breakfast... I started thinking that I had plenty enough of the ingredients to make another batch... EXCEPT for the butter. Or in my case, the NOT butter. So as I'm sitting there, trying to justify going out in the (FINALLY) cold weather with the baby for ONE stick of not butter, I get this idea. This horrible, awful, terrible, DELICIOUS idea.

I thought, "What about peanut butter?" Oh yeah. So I made another batch, subbing 1/2 cup of peanut butter for 1 stick of butter and then using regular (not) butter for the remaining 3/4 of a stick.... and then... I used mini chocolate Hershey bars that I raided from the Halloween pumpkin for the filling.

You see? I told you to turn back. They are so good. They are horribly, sinfully, good. And I'm NOT sharing. Make your own! ..... If you dare.

Not Quite Apricot Bars

So I saw this recipe for Apricot bars a week or so ago on Tammie's Blog, who got it from Daphne, who got it from The Pioneer Woman. I thought they looked quite yummy so I decided to bake up a batch today.

The only changes I made were adding 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon to the batter and then using apple butter for the filling rather than apricot preserves. They are quite yummy and they smelled so good while they were baking... I totally didn't even wait for the pan to cool. I'm already eating it..... I think I will get more. Maybe the hubs doesn't even need to try them. Or the B. Yeah... I definitely think they can do without. LOL