Exciting news!  I bought my husband a ceramic grill (think Big Green egg).  He's so pumped ;)  Last night was our first time to cook on it and because I had not planned ahead, we just attempted burgers.  I will say that these were the juiciest burgers we've ever cooked.  Hopefully tonight will be a success again.  We are going to cook Ribeyes....yum!  I will report back exactly how they were cooked for those of you who have an egg and would like to compare notes.  So excited!  I'm hoping this will inspire him to cook more haha.  Happy Sunday!

Life

Yes, Life.....it got in the way of my blog haha.  Baseball season for the older son and t-ball season for the younger son.....well, you get the picture. We are still going full force with both kiddos playing ball, but I'm making myself commit to blogging more!  Hopefully soon I will begin posting pics to go along with my recipes.  Just not there yet :)
Today it rained....and cooled off to around 60 so Taco Soup it was!  Everyone but the youngest child loves this soup.  It's a little too spicy for him plus Lord forbid he eat veggies :) 

TACO SOUP

1 lb beef
1 onion
2 cans of black beans
2 cans of whole kernel corn
2 cans of rotel (use mild if you have young kiddos or don't like spicy foods)
1 pk of taco seasoning
1 pk of ranch dressing mix
2-3 cups of water

Chop onion and cook with meat.  Add all other ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes.  Note:  do not drain beans, corn or rotel.  Add water depending on the thickness you want.  Serve with cheese, corn chips and sour cream.

This also makes a great meal to freeze and eat later (which is what I did).  Just freeze in gallon ziplock bags.  YUM!!!!

Cravings for Mexican!

One of my children requested enchiladas tonight.  I hate to admit it, but i usually use canned enchilada sauce when I make them and guess what.....didn't have any on hand.  So I googled homemade enchilada sauce and ended up combining a few recipes into one.  This is what I did:

Enchilada sauce
2 T canola oil
2 T flour
2 T chili powder

Cook these three ingredients together on low for about 2 minutes. 
Then add:
1 8oz can tomato paste
2 c water
1/4 t cumin
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4t red pepper
salt to taste (ended up using quite a bit as it was a little bland for our tastes)

Mix together completely, making sure the tomato paste completely dissolves and cook on low for 20 minutes.

This made quite a bit of enchilada sauce and was really quite tasty! 


So for the enchiladas I just cooked ground beef (about 1 1/2lb) with some chopped green onion, sprinkling garlic powder, salt, and chili powder in for taste.  Then after it is cooked, drain and put back into skillet.  Add one can of cream of cheddar soup and mix together.  Divide up evenly into tortillas, add a little of the enchilada sauce, roll up and place seam side down into a baking pan.  Add more enchilada sauce on top of each one and sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese.  Cook on 350 for 20 minute.  We topped ours with salsa and sour cream.  YUM!!!

This meal was a big hit with the kiddos :)
Juli

A little grilling

Wanted to blog about tonight's dinner.  Total hit for all!  I marinated country style pork ribs in dale's all day....and sprinkled a little garlic powder on them before grilling.  My husband grilled them over charcoal vs using the gas grill and oh my they were tasty!    I made a big salad using balsamic vinegar/olive oil for the dressing.  I bought the BEST balsamic vinegar during t'giving at a christmas expo we have in Birmingham.  You can purchase the balsamic along with other goodies from their website which is  www.gallifoods.com.   Definately splurge and get the balsamic that is aged 20 years.  Totally different than the other ones.  Then we also had garlic bread and "cowboy" potatoes. (named by my husband).  It's just thinly sliced red potatoes, sauted in olive oil on a medium heat.  Also cut up vidalia onions and bell peppers.  Cook potatoes until they are browned and turn down heat and continue cooking until cooked all the way through.  Just be careful when flipping because they will tear up....but still taste wonderful even torn up!

Great meal and will definately be a repeat soon :)
Juli

Split Chicken Breasts

I have been trying to "clean out" our deep freezer and came across a pack of three split chicken breasts.  Typically we grill these, which that recipe will come soon enough :)  But with the temperature being quite chilly tonight and my husband was unable to man the grill due to work obligations, I decided I'd bake them.  I found a few recipes online, and just combined a few and came up with this easy way to cook split chicken breasts.....so we'll call it Easy Chicken!

Easy Chicken

3 bone in split chicken breasts
olive oil
garlic powder
sea salt
cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I bumped it up to 375 degrees because my chicken breasts were pretty big. Then i used a brush and coated the skin lightly with olive oil.  Season on both sides with the remaining ingredients.  I left one breast without cayenne pepper for the little one.  Then I placed the chicken on a roaster rack in a pan and cooked for about an hour to an hour and a half. 

This was a winner for all members of the family.  I served with boiled red potatoes with butter and parsley and some lima beans for the adults and salad for the kiddo. 

A new adventure!

This will be my first attempt at blogging.  Before I begin, let me explain a few things.  I am NOT a professional cook.  I have collected recipes and recipe books since I was young and love trying out new recipes.  Most of my recipes that I blog will not be my own.....but I will occassionally put my own spin on them.  I just wanted a way to keep up with the recipes that my family enjoys and this seemed like a good option.  Thanks for visiting and if there's anything I could do to make this more enjoyable please leave me a comment and I'll consider it. 

War eagle!
Juli