Spice it up - Simple homemade spice mixes

Hey ohhh. Happy Wednesday. The day after I over-salt my rice and eat the dinner portion instead of throwing it out and making another batch, and have to drink 20394830984 gallons of water last night while wondering if salt poisoning is a thing and I'm STILL thirsty this morning seems like a good day to share spice mix recipe recommendations with you. No? Don't worry, I threw the rest of it out. 

ANYWAY

I'm cooking through my freezer and pantry right now, which I try to do every January or February. Carol went through my spices in Philly and at the shore at the end of the year and purged all expired ones. I am out of taco seasoning here and was going to run to the store then I was like wait, I used to make this myself. So I did that instead, and it got me thinking about other things that are easy to make yourself if you are in the middle of cooking or don't feel like running out to the store. 

Please please please for the love of all that is holy, season your food while you are prepping and cooking it. PLEASE.

And of course the great thing about making them at home is that you have total control over what goes into the mix and how strong or mild the flavor will be. Here are a few off the top of my head-ish:

Homemade taco seasoning is great for uh, tacos....as well as any type of taco pasta dish or to flavor chicken or add to your favorite cold taco dip.

Ingredients:

1 tbs chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix together and use 3 tablespoons for a packet. I typically make a large amount and store in an airtight glass container.

Homemade Seasoned Salt is an easy way to add flavor to your food. It is a great way to use up leftover herbs and spices, and it takes just minutes to make. Also...speaking of salt...this is a seasoned SALT so it is going to be SALTY. Use accordingly.

Ingredients:

-1/4 cup kosher Salt

-4 tablespoons ground black pepper

-1 teaspoon Garlic powder

-1 teaspoon Onion powder

-1/4 teaspooon ground red/Cayenne pepper

-1 teaspoon Paprika

To Make:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, and store in an airtight container. Use as desired to season food before cooking.

Homemade Curry Powder Indian curry powder is a homemade spice mix typically made of coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, and chili powder. It can be used to season chicken, beef, fish, or vegetables.

Ingredients

½ teaspoon ground coriander 

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

⅛ teaspoon turmeric

⅛ teaspoon ground ginger

pinch of red pepper flakes

 ¼-½ teaspoon chili powder

To make:

In a small bowl, combine ingredients. Depending on how spicy you want it, stir in in ¼-½ teaspoon chili powder. Store in an airtight container. 

You can also add other spices such as cinnamon or cardamom for extra flavor. This mix will keep for about six months stored in an airtight container.

Homemade Lemon Pepper is great for seasoning fish, chicken, or pork. You can also add it to homemade dressings and marinades. It's fresh AF and that comes through on the food.

Ingredients:

½ teaspoon lemon zest (from about one large lemon)

¾ teaspoon finely ground sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To make: 

Combine the following in an airtight container. Keeps at room temp for three months

Homemade Italian Seasoning is easy and it can be tailored to your taste. All you need is a blend of dried herbs such as basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. You can also add in some ground black pepper and red pepper flakes for a bit of heat. Without the peppers it is quite mild, which mine reflects because I don't like red chili flakes much. If you do and want the heat, go up to like 1 TBS of those. I go something like this:

Ingredients

-2 TBS basil

-2 TBS oregano

-1 TBS rosemary

-1 TBS thyme

-2 TBS parsley

-1 TSP garlic powder

-1/2 TSP red chili flakes

To make: 

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Then store it in an airtight container until ready to use. It will keep for several months.

You can use homemade Italian seasoning on pasta dishes, pizza, or any other dish on which you would generally use Italian-seasoned bread crumbs. It's also great sprinkled over roasted vegetables or chicken breasts before baking them.

Those are just a few examples of how you can conjure spice mixes out of what you have separately spice-wise most of the time. 

If I'm buying spice blends, I prefer Penzey's (fox point and garlic salt seasoning are staples but most of their catalog is excellent), and McCormick mixes - the garlic, onion, black pepper, and sea salt is perfection. Chef Curl Ardee is Black-woman owned and the mild seasoning is chef's freaking kiss. 

Tuesday Kitchen Tips Talk

Cooking can be a lot of fun, depending on the day. I mean after cooking three meals a day for an eternity through much of 2020 I think most of us went off of cooking, but in general and global pandemic keeping us in our homes aside, I do enjoy it. If I have a few hours of afternoon stretched before me, fun. Therapeutic, even. If I am hungry and know I need to make something to not eat junk, not fun. If you enjoy or at the least don't mind cooking but find that your efforts to make a healthy dinner tend to end in a messy kitchen and a giant pile of dishes to be washed, it probably makes the activity more of a burden and less of a joy. Here are some things I do to alleviate the mess on the front and back ends and during and to add a little pizzazz. 

Clean as you Go

As a rule, straight out, clean as you go. Nothing will be more important than that if you truly want to stop making a disastrous mess in the kitchen. Chop all that needs chopping, clean up. Use pan, clean or at least set to soak. Etc. 

Use Tongs

Spatulas are the right tool for anything that you need to flip, like eggs or pancakes. For everything else, tongs are the best option. Tongs are nimble and easier to use than other kitchen tools, and you’re far less likely to drop things. If you have non-stick pans, choose tongs with nylon tips, and choose long ones, so you can keep your hands out of the way. It took me a long time to come around to tongs and I'm sad about that. 

Store Everything In Containers

No matter how good your intentions are, it can be easy to end up with a fridge and freezer full of wilting herbs and mysterious leftovers wrapped in foil. Keep things tidy, fresh, and organized in  containers instead. Container storage keeps just about anything fresh for much longer, including fresh herbs, cut-up produce, or leftovers like this super easy monkey bread (who remembers making this in junior high Home Ec class with Ms. Paxton?). It’s also much greener to use containers instead of single-use foil or plastic wrap. I use mostly Pyrex glass or ceramic to store. 

Don’t Bother With A Garlic Press or other Gadgets that Add Work & Mess

Peeling and pressing garlic takes ages and is a waste of time. To use a clove of garlic with minimal fuss, put it on a cutting board and use the flat side of a large knife to smash it flat. The skin will come off easily, and you mince the garlic very quickly. I detest gadgets that add work and mess. Now pineapple corers? I use that a lot and find it makes life easier and equally or less messy as without.

Use Separate Cutting Boards

You need more than one cutting board in your kitchen. If you’re following recipes, you’re going to use your cutting board to prepare garlic and onions. A separate board that you keep aside for other things like fruit, cheese, and meats is a good idea if you don’t want these ingredients to soak up the flavors of the onions and garlic you were chopping. Gross gross gross. 

Grow or Buy Fresh Green Herbs When Possible

Apart from perhaps dried oregano, almost all green herbs are much better bought fresh instead of dried. Fresh herbs are cheap, and easily available to those of us who do not live in food deserts. Herbs are also the easiest thing to grow even if you don't have a penchant for vegetable gardening (me). Parsley, basil, cilantro, thyme, tarragon, and chives are especially good when you buy them fresh. Dried herbs are perfectly good and usable but make sure you don't let them languish in the cabinet for years. The flavor leaves. 

Avoid Overcooking

Vegetables that have been overcooked go mushy and taste of nothing. Overcooked meat can be tough, and grains go soggy. Overcooked food is rarely enjoyable. Learn to take your food off the heat just before it’s done and allow it to finish cooking with its own internal temperature. You can always cook something a little more, but you can’t cook something less. Super important life lesson.

What do you have to add?

Encouraging yourself to be more active in the kitchen

Where ae my food friends? I know I'm tired after feeling like I've made breakfast lunch and dinner on a loop during the pandemic year, with the dishes that come along with it. I'm tired of all food. Can a woman get a break in the freaking kitchen. Yes, whenever, but I also don't want to eat out constantly so I'm looking for some ways to encourage myself to be a little more active in the kitchen. I need to resist constantly reaching for the takeout menu when it’s time to prepare dinner or just giving up and loading ourselves up in the car and taking off to one of the nearby restaurants with outdoor seating now that we're vaxxed and maxxed. While it is a nice treat to eat out and takeout food can be delicious, doing either or both often poses problems, chiefly making me feel gross. 

Some possible cooking motivators...

Renovate Your Kitchen 

Depending on how much time/money/muscle you're willing to put out, you might want to think about making some changes to your kitchen. You can also do smaller renovations that will give the space and you as the cook some new life. You could consider investing in some new tech. A heat induction hob could be a great choice. Heat induction hobs will adapt to heat the surface of the pan or pot that you are using rather than providing the typical heat ring. So, as well as being economical, this type of tech will also ensure that you don’t have to worry about your food not being equally heated throughout. It can save you from nasty burnt meals. You can also do something as easy as hanging new shelves for spices to make them more accessible, which we did at the shore this winter. It's crazy something so small can give you some oomph.

Try Some New Recipes

It’s possible that you’ve grown bored of your kitchen because it’s always the same meals and food every night. Is there group therapy for that? If so, I need to attend. I've been revisiting old recipes that I stopped making and exploring new recipes more than I have in years like dessert recipes I've been finding online. If you are like me in regards to cooking, you look for new recipes then add your own touches to reinvent them a little. I tend to do that more when cooking and not so much with baking. 

Make It Easier

The easier a recipe/cooking method is, the more I am likely to do it. If you don't have one, you might want to think about investing in a slow cooker. The benefit of a slow cooker is that you will be able to prepare meals throughout the day and then they’ll be ready to eat in a few minutes when you come in. If you've been around here, you know that I am not the biggest fan of the crockpot. My easy method of choice is the air fryer (affiliate link). Of course we are also entering summer, when it's super easy to just throw something on the grill and serve it with a salad. 

What are you doing to be more active in the kitchen and less reliant on take out? 

Sharing is caring - let's hear your tips and tricks and any easy recipes you've been making. 

What's new with you?

Chicken pot pie soup

I like when people share recipes in Instagram stories so I can just screenshot them, but then I have to keep finding that when I want the recipe so I end up transcribing it here. This recipe is adapted from one Just Ingredients (blog here) shared and I like following her because she talks about alternatives to all the crap in food/household/personal care products that is terrible for us. And she does it in a way that's not annoying. When available, I used organic of all ingredients as is my typical MO. 

Ingredients
4 TBS butter
1/2 onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/3C flour (she uses alternative flour, I use regular)

4 garlic cloves
1 small container baby bella mushrooms, sliced
4 medium yukon gold potatoes, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 quart chicken bone broth
2 cups milk or heavy whipping cream (I used one of each)
3 cups shredded chicken (I made chicken breasts in the air fryer then shredded them)
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbs Italian seasoning

Directions
Put all ingredients from garlic cloves on down into a pot and get that going.

Separately, saute onion, carrots, celery in butter about seven to eight minutes. Add flour to veggies and cook another two minutes.

Then add this to the other ingredient pot. Cook on medium-low until carrots and potatoes are soft.

Happy birthday to my friend AEB today! 

Knick knack paddy whack give a dog a bone broth

Bone broth is great for everyone. I make it for the dogs because their health is more attended to than ours.

There are a lot of powders out on the market right now but honestly? Make it yourself. It's super easy and MUCH cheaper. It's a great immune system booster and helps with allergies and food sensitivities. It's a superior joint supplement so help your dogs age more easily and feed them some bone broth with their food. Note: this is not in any way a food replacement.

Ingredients 
Marrow bones - I keep some in the freezer, which is what you see below.
2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar - I prefer Bragg's
Water

Directions
Put bones in a crockpot. Cover them with water plus an inch or so. Cook on low for at least 24 hours. I usually start them at night around 7 pm and let them go for 24 hours plus that overnight.

Remove bones (throw out, do not give to dogs) and allow liquid to cool. When refrigerated it should be a jelly-like consistency. There may be a skin of fat on the top that you can remove. Store in airtight jars. Bone broth doesn't last long like that so I keep one out and freeze the rest - leave plenty of space in jars when you freeze so they don't burst.

Warm a few tablespoons for about 10 seconds and put over dog food. Humans can eat this as well, and it's just as good for you.

And today...D-Day. When fascism was recognized and we recoiled and sent our bravest to fight like hell against it.

Dogs need summer refreshment too

Humans aren't the only beings that like frozen treats. Dogs do too.

Ingredients
1C organic pumpkin
1C greek yogurt
1C peanut butter
(make sure  none of those things have xylitol, it is deadly for dogs).

Directions
Mix well - I used an immersion blender but you can do it by hand. Put in ice cube trays, about a quarter of the way full in each. Freeze for 24 hours.

My dogs go nuts for these.

But now, back to people. Happy birthday to my sister-in-law Sarah today!

Corn Dip redux

Hello and happy Friday, you guys. Happy Royal Wedding II Eve. Alas, I am not having a Royal Wedding Party like I did the last time - have you seen that post? It was definitely one of the best parties ever. I considered trying to throw one together but ran out of time.

Last week I pulled up the ol' blog recipe page and clicked on the corn dip entry. There was no page found. Same for hoagie dip and some other ones. Who the hell knows what happened to them, but when I don't keep recipes on here, I have to find old word docs and I don't like doing that.

So, corn dip. Again, for those of you who've seen it before. Likely a similarly shitty photo to the first time, because it doesn't photograph well. It's always the way that the ugly things taste the best. Either way, maybe you need a dip for the weekend. Maybe this is it.

Ingredients
2 cans mexi-corn or fiesta corn, drained well
1C sour cream
1C mayo
2C finely shredded cheddar
5 chopped green onions
1 can chopped green chiles
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin

Directions
Mix all together and chill for a few hours. Serve with fritos, tortilla chips, or wheat thins.

Carrot Pineapple Muffins

You know what's not been good out of this entire working from home more thing? Baking on my lunch hour. Fatassery like nobody's business.

I had a can of crushed pineapple in the pantry and needed to use it. I used half for this and half as a chicken marinade the next week. Boom.

Original recipe here.

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup apple sauce
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup drained crushed pineapple

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

Sitr together sugar, apple sauce, eggs, vanilla until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined.

Add carrots and pineapple, stir well.

Place paper in muffin tin or grease muffin tin. Spoon mixture in, filling to top.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until done. I got 15 muffins out of this.

Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove to rack to finish cooling. I let them sit in the pan then flash froze them. I take them out in the morning and they're thawed by the time I get to work.

Pasta fazooooool

Yes, I know that's not how you spell it. Almost as cringe-worthy as seeing someone type wah-lah or viola! for voila!, right?

Anyway. Soup. On April 18. Not that there's anything wrong with soup year round, but I'm usually moving on to grilling things and fresh things now but it's still winter feeling so today, soup.

I like to say the name of pasta e fagioli  more than I like to eat it. Quick, cheap, and painless to make; and filling to eat without meat. I made 678 gallons of it last night to get rid of some ditalini and beef stock as I continue cleaning out my pantry.

Ingredients
2 tbs olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

4 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced (or 2 tsp already jarred minced garlic)

Crushed red pepper - to your taste, mine is a few shakes. Some is required!

Oregano - 1/2 tsp

Kosher salt

15 oz can of kidney beans, rinsed

15 oz can of pinto beans, rinsed
Half bag frozen cut green beans

15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes with liquid

15 oz can of tomato sauce

3 cups beef stock (you can use chicken or vegetable or water for that matter, but you'll need a little boost if you just use the water)

Half a box of ditalini

Directions
Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and saute about six minutes or until onion is soft and translucent.

Add beans, tomatoes, sauce, stock, and spices. A word about this - I do not like crushed red pepper and even I add a few shakes to this soup. It requires it. If you have bay leaves, sprinkle a few of those in there too. I couldn't lay my hands on mine quickly enough and shit was burning.

Stir well and bring up to a low boil. Add ditalini and cook over medium until pasta is done, about 10 minutes. I personally turn it down to low and leave it on longer so the liquid goes down to almost nothing and everything soaks in the flavor.  I don't like a lot of broth in my soups. MFD does so he adds more on the back end when heating up. 

To Freeze
I gave you the measurements for a single pot which will feed four. I doubled it and it made enough for at least two more dinners for two or more than a week of lunches for me. If it's just you and you don't want to eat it more than twice, freeze half of one pot. Remember not to fill your containers to the very top - what you're freezing needs room to expand and breathe.

I spent all last night thinking it was Wednesday night so today actually being Wednesday is a low blow.

This might be beef stroganoff.

I don't know what beef stroganoff actually is, and maybe this isn't it, but it's what I call it. We also say strokemeoff and laugh like 12 year olds. I got a recipe from Big Hungry Shelby over 10 years ago and modified it as the years flew by and here we are with a quasi beef stroganoff casserole thingy.

Despite that intro and the photo (casseroles photograph like dog meat) it's good. I promise.

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef - for this I had leftover shredded french dip so I used a pound of that instead + a pound of ground beef
2 tbs worcestershire sauce
2 cans cream of mushroom soup - please make your own if you can, it's good, I promise
1 medium minced onion
One bag of egg noodles, cooked
16 oz sour cream
parsley
buttered cracker crumbs

Directions
Saute onion in a smidge of butter. Remove and immediately brown ground beef. Drain, add Worcestershire sauce. Mix meat, onions, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and cooked egg noodles. Grease a 9x13 dish and dump it in. Top with buttered cracker crumbs if you dare.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Serve it with a side of veg and get some health in you.

Haikuesday

Casseroles look gross,  

taste good. It's a conundrum.

Like eighties fashion.

Please tell me you are voting in your local general election today. 
I don't care who you vote for, I don't even care if you go and push the vote button without making any choices to make your thoughts on the bullshit political process known. 
I do care that you go and push the button. 
"Voting doesn't matter, it won't make a difference" is up for debate. 
Sitting at home on your couch will definitely not make a difference. 
Go.
Vote.

When I dip you dip we dip french dip

Can anyone say french without mimicking the mom from Better Off Dead? First, I have frawnch fries. And frawnch dressing. And frawnch bread.

ANYWAY...
Once upon a time I used to share recipes. Then I got in a rut and stopped doing that. I didn't feel like cooking so I did the minimal. I woke up one day and was like hey...I feel like cooking again. With my older recipes too. And fuck it, they're not always going to be healthy because I am not always a healthy eater and the season of the comfort food is upon us.

Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, is it not? Let us say hello to cooking again.

This recipe is originally from Simply Scratch. The original calls for red wine and beer and makes five pounds. I do not keep alcohol in my house and I do not need five pounds at a time, so here is my version.

Ingredients
3 lb beef chuck roast
1 large onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
2 tbs olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 cup of this: 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar with water added up to the half cup line
4 cups beef broth for crock
3 tsp beef bouillon granules
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs worcestershire

Directions
Pull meat out of the fridge a half hour before you are going to work on it.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the roast with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, sear each side for 3-4 minutes. For those of you out there like me who like to skip the searing step because it'll be fine without it trust me you want to do the sear here.

Add a smidge more olive oil and throw the onions in for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Remove. Deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar concoction, scraping up all the brown bits.

Add to a large crock: roast, onion, garlic, red wine vinegar situation, soy sauce, Worcestershire, bouillon granules, and pour the beef stock over all of it.

I cooked it on high for four hours, but you can certainly do low for eight.

Remove meat and shred with forks, add back to liquid. Serve on crusty rolls.

Despite the title, I do not dip the sandwich in au jus because I hate soggy bread but by all means, have at it.

Haikuesday

At a loss name-wise. 

when i dip you dip we dip

seems appropriate

Weeknight red sauce

Yeah yeah, I said sauce. In the sauce vs. gravy war, I am staunchly sauce. To me, gravy is brown.

Like a lot of people, I like to linger over a pot of sauce all day, stirring here and there, tasting, adding, etc. But sometimes you need a quick red sauce and this is a winner without using jarred, I'm telling you.

Ingredients
28 oz crushed tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
4 tbs butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions

Put the tomatoes, sauce, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Add seasonings and stir well. Lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Remove from heat, discard the onion, and mix with your prepared pasta or spaghetti squash or wherever you're using it.

Inquiring minds want to know: sauce or gravy?

Fun guy casserole

Over the years I've saved recipes passed on to me from various sources, like other people's family members. In this case, my friend Jenn's grandfather's mushroom casserole. Which I call Fun Guy casserole. Funghi. Fun guy. Get it? I'd never make it on Last Comic Standing.

One of the ways I use this blog is as a repository for those recipes. I sometimes adapt them, to make it smaller like I did here. If you want to do this in a 13x9, check out the original recipe on the bottom.

Ingredients
3 lb fresh mushrooms, roughly chopped and cleaned (I used 1.5 lb crimini & 1.5 lb white)
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS garlic powder
1/2 cup water from cooked mushrooms

Ingredient/amounts from Jenn's Grandfather's original recipe - directions are the same)
5 lb fresh mushrooms, roughly chopped and cleaned; 1C Italian bread crumbs; 3/4C grated cheese; 4TBS olive oil; 2-3 cloves garlic; 1C water from cooked mushrooms. Bake in 13x9 instead of pie dish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.

Put mushrooms in large stockpot with water. Boil 10 minutes. Reserve 1C water and drain the rest. Let the mushrooms cool. When cool, add rest of ingredients and mix well. Place in a greased baking dish and bake for 45 min or until crispy.

Quick, easy, fun guy way to a variation on the veggie side.

Jusy's chicken

When I first started really cooking - late, not until I was 25 or 26 - I wanted things that would be hard to fuck up. My older friends were happy to oblige, handing over easy recipes for me to follow. I also liked the thought of comfort food. It's what felt most domestic to me. This is both a hand me down easy recipe from my friend Judy (Jusy) and comfort food. I cannot tell you the last time I made something with a cream of anything can of soup in it...these days I will typically "do the right thing" and make a replacement for it that's healthier as cream of whatever soup isn't really en vogue anymore. But Lord, was this as good as I remember. I serve it over wide egg noodles with a side of green veg (usually steamed broccoli or green beans).

Ingredients
family pack chicken breasts
kosher salt
pepper
American cheese slices (American is preferred, here I used colby jack)
1 can of cream of chicken soup or equivalent
Sliced tomatoes in season, or a can of diced tomatoes drained well
Stove top stuffing mix
2 tbs butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper and place in a greased 13x9 dish.

Cover each piece with a slice of cheese. Pour cream of chicken soup over dish and spread it around evenly. Place sliced tomato or diced tomatoes over entire dish. Put stuffing in the microwave with butter until butter is melted. Stir together. Sprinkle over entire dish. It looks less than appetizing in its making, but it's good.

Bake for 45 minutes at 375.

One pan sausage and veggie dinner

By Sunday of this past weekend, I just wanted some easy dinner food that would not be yet another poor dietary choice for the weekend. Something hearty without being filled to the brim with cheese and fat. I went back though some stuff I used to make and happened upon this one pan dish (I cannot locate the original recipe source right now, but it's out there). Winner winner sausage and veggie easy cleanup dinner. The banana peppers give this basic bitch dish an unexpected thrill. It's the perfect thing when you want a healthy-ish dinner that's not a big production in prep, cooking, or cleanup.

Ingredients
1 ring turkey kielbasa
1 ring beef kielbasa
1 red onion, sliced in half then in rings
2 bell peppers, sliced in strips
1 big ass jar of banana pepper rings
about 10 baby red potatoes, quartered
3 tbs olive oil
kosher salt
pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 450.

Put veggies in a bowl, top with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and mix well with your clean hands. Slice kielbasa on the bias and add, mixing in.

Get a very big sheet tray with lips or two regular sized baking sheets, spray with non-stick spray, and spread veggies and sausage out evenly.

Cooking time sort of depends on how much you have on the trays and how crisp you like your veggies - I like them a little burnt. I'd start checking it at 35 minutes. I had a lot on mine, so I cooked it for 40 minutes then bumped it up to 500 to finish it off for another 10 minutes.

Breakfast Casserole

I get stuck in breakfast ruts with egg muffins or breakfast burritos or savory oatmeal. I don't try to break out of these ruts because the thing is that I am totally fine with eating the same thing for breakfast most of the time. I'm not sure what made me get a wild hair up my ass to try this breakfast casserole, but I did.

Honestly? I would probably not put this into my regular rotation for my weekday breakfasts - it makes a lot, and while I could scale it down, I'd rather not. It's also a little too much work for me for a standard weekday breakfast. This is a great option for brunch or holidays or a weekend with friends when you don't want to be a short order cook. It's hearty and delicious.

Ingredients
1 lb bacon, chopped, cooked, drained
1 small onion, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
4 green onions, chopped
20 oz bag of Simply Potatoes shredded hashbrowns - I used southwest
8 oz shredded cheese
9 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk


Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Spray the bottom of a 13x9 pan with cooking spray, arrange potatoes in a thin later on the bottom, and bake them off for about 10 minutes.

Cook bacon and drain (see my grease trick below). Add onion and pepper to the pan and saute for about five minutes.

Beat eggs and milk together, and add salt & pepper to taste.

Remove potatoes from oven. Layer cheese, bacon, green onions. Pour eggs mixture over. Top with the remaining cheese and green onions.

Cook for about 40 minutes, then hit it with the broiler for an additional five.

Line a bowl with tin foil, place strainer over it, and drain bacon into the bowl.
Much easier cleanup when the bacon grease hardens. 

*********

Haikuesday

An ode to bacon:

Savory love, sweet heaven.

Pigs would not agree. 

*********

Green chile chicken dip

Did you ever unintentionally complicate a recipe in advance, but when it came time to make it you just said fuck it and ended up throwing a bunch of crap together? That's what happened here.

It's been a while since I've tried a new recipe. I slack off in that department over the summer, but I feel like it's been a little longer than that, across the board.

When I needed an appetizer for Lola Jean's first birthday party, none of the solid favorites were ringing a bell for me. Neither was any recipe I was perusing. So I took a few recipes and mixed them up and came out with this dip.

Ingredients
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups lime juice
2 packets fajita seasoning
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonaise
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar, divided into two equal parts
2 4 oz cans diced green chile peppers
2 4 oz jars diced pimentos
3 green onions, sliced thin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin
paprika for flash

Directions
Whisk fajita seasoning and lime juice and place chicken in it. Marinate chicken for at least four hours. I like to leave it overnight.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes and let sit for 15. When cooled, shred chicken - I always do this in a food processor but you can do by hand or with a hand mixer.

While chicken is in the oven, unwrap cream cheese and place it in a large bowl to soften. Add mayo, sour cream, chicken, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin. Mix well with hand mixer. Add green chiles, pimentos, green onions, and half of the cheese and stir to incorporate

Transfer to a greased 7x9 baking dish. Top with paprika and the other half of the cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350, then hit it with the broiler for 8 minutes.

Serve with Fritos scoops, tortilla chips, crackers, or celery.

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Haikuesday

First sentence fuck it

That must be a new record... 

or just daily life.

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And today is Mae Doll's birthday. Happy happy Mae.