GRANDMA Tell Me About The Good Ole’ Days

“What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance.  They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life.  And, most importantly, cookies - Rudolph Giuliani”

Well in my case my Grandma was a master of the most amazing recipes BUT my all time favorites were Grill Cheese Sandwiches and Sloppy Joes.  I remember when Grandpa was still here, it was a weekly thing for my Mom and I to go to Grandpa and Grandma’s for dinner and though she was a master of many foods, we always requested Sloppy Joes.  Now granted my Grandma made them just as most of us using ‘Manwhich’ but I tell you what, you would have thought we were eating at a 5 star Sloppy Joe Joint (Don’t know if those exist, but you get me).  The buns were always toasted just right (and ALWAYS just the right size), and the mix just melted in your mouth.  Maybe because it came out of (which my cousins and I thought was a magic stove FOREVER), or just because it was from Grandma – but it has always been one of my favs!

Now that I make them for my family, I for the longest time also used Manwhich, but because of the “wanna make it all from scratch” kick, I found an easy recipe (courtesy of Cooks.com) and made them tonight for us – MMM!  Now of course as always, I always end up missing one key ingredient and this tonight being buns…BUT I compromised and toasted some bread and slapped on top with some cheese and a side of tater tots – Voila!

Homemade Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs ground beef (< --- I substituted Ground Turkey)

1 Small onion Chopped

1 ½ tsp. salt

¾ tsp pepper

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 small can tomato sauce

1 small bell pepper

Directions:

1)       Brown ground beef and drain.

2)       Add onions, bell pepper then add all seasonings

3)       Add tomato sauce (rinse can and add a little water)

4)       Bring to boil, cut down heat then simmer for about 30 minutes

Hot Dog this was tasty!!!

Enjoy!

XO Lyndie

Wacko for Chicken Wednesday

I believe Mexican food is something if needed I could eat VERY day! I actually did this past Summer when Mike went to Florida. We have a little taqueria by the house we frequent often, and I love their homemade AUTHENTIC white cheese queso – haah! Well let’s just say, without having to plan meals for the both of us, I cheated and literally ate there EVERY night while he was gone. Sure, I am certain it wasn’t the BEST or healthiest for me, but oh well – some women love chocolate, I love Mexican food!

I had a recipe that I Have used for the past few years and it is quite yummy, but recently a girlfriend of mine made some homemade Sour Cream enchiladas her way, and though it was similar there was an extra step and less ingredients and it was DELICIOUS!!!! It was juicy, cheesy and just all around YUMMO!! I made this last night for hubby and I and wanted to share!!

Sour Cream Enchiladas:

Boneless chicken < --- (I Used about 6 Boneless Chicken Breast)

Block of Monterrey Jack cheese

Large Sour Cream

2 small cans of diced green chilies

Flour Tortillas Flour

Directions:

1) Cook the chicken in water and when done remove chicken and leave enough water for mixture and topping

2) Pour 3 quarters of the sour cream into the water along with one can of green chilies. Cook until sour cream is blended.

3) Shred chicken with fork or fingers and add 3 quarters of the sauce to the chicken and mix (it will be runny – great!!)

4) Pour a little flour into the rest of the sauce just to thicken a little. (high heat for a minute then low heat – stir constantly) turn off.

5) Heat a few tortillas in microwave at a time – roll up chicken mixture into tortillas with some shredded Monterrey jack cheese and place in pan

6) After all your enchiladas are placed in the pan you can top with any remaining chicken mixture – top that off with the thick sauce and top that off with other can of chilies and more cheeeese.

7) Bake in oven until all cheese melts (usually 350 for 20-30 mins)

**** For the sides, I just made canned black beans and Mexican yellow rice – yummy!!!

I have to say, I would not expect anything less to come from my friends kitchen, but this is definitely one of my favorites now!!!

Enjoy and remember one EASY ingredient you can ADD to any meal is a ‘Splash of Love’!

XO Lyndie

MMM! Meat!

With this weekend being such one that was full of memories, I thought of one of my favorite memories of growing up and that was my Mom’s Pot Roast. I remember (though when I was younger I Hated Left overs. I hated how all food looked, especially when it had any grease or gravy and it floated to the top and turned white. It especially happened with the gravy for the pot roast, and I refused to eat it the next day. Ugh! Yes, maybe a little spoiled – but just after seeing that “white stuff” on top, no matter that it would turn back to gravy once heated, I just couldn’t eat it.

My poor mom, she didn’t cook it in the crock pot as I do now a days, she actually browned it, made the gravy and cooked it in the conventional over checking on it every so often. She always whipped up delicious homemade potatoes as well – she was so good to me! And because I was a picky eater and up until almost junior high I ONLY craved beanie weenies, when my mom made a pot roast, it was something special. I remembered how the kitchen would smell, and I thought after such a great weekend of memories, I wanted to fill the house with the same smells from my home growing up.

I also made homemade mash potatoes (as I have said, I am usually an instant kinda gal) and Green Bean Casserole. For the casserole, I did not have any of the canned onions to mix and crush on top, so I got creative and made my own – I added recipe to that as well below 

Crock Pot Roast – Crock Pot Website:

Ingredients:

3 1/2 to 4 pounds boneless pot roast
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 carrots, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 small onions, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
10 button mushrooms, sliced

Directions:

1) Trim all excess fat from the roast, brown and drain.
2) Combine 1/4 cup flour, salt and pepper and coat meat with the flour mixture.
3) Place all vegetables except mushrooms in the Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker and top with the roast.
4) Spread mushrooms evenly over the top of the roast.
5) Cover and cook on Low for 10-12 hours or on High for 4-6 hours.
*** For me, I did not add mushrooms, but added ½ can of French Onion Soup & a Bag of Lipton French Onion Soup Mix ( GREAT Flavor)

Green Bean Casserole

Ingrediants:

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request®)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions

Directions:

1) Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
2) Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining onions.
3) Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

**** For the Homemade Fried onions -- Food Website


Ingrediants:

3 large onions, sliced thin
2 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
oil (for frying)
salt




Directions:


1) Soak the onions in the milk for 5 minutes.
2) Heat the oil in a large skillet or deep fryer.
3) Take a handful of onions and run them through the flour with a fork to coat.
4) Fry in batches in the oil, stirring as needed to brown evenly.
5) Drain on paper towels and season to taste.


As always, I hope you enjoy and thank you JESUS above for allowing me to share one of my most ultimate comfort foods with others!

XO Lyndie

Bringing The Krabby Patties Above The Sea!

“There it is. The finest eating establishment ever established for eating. The Krusty Krab, home of the Krabby Patty – Sponge Bob”

Ok, So not exactly the “original” Krabby patty, but my own version --- YES, using crab! I found a recipe a while ago but you could substitute Canned Tuna, and for the past 3 years, that is what I have used. Hey Hubby loved it, I did too, so it worked. Well since I am striving to do this new venture and find new ways of cooking our favs, I came across this recipe (w/REAL Crab meat) and it was my goal to make my first “Krabby” Patties w/Real Crab Meat!

This had a few different ingredients that I gave a double look, but mmm! It turned out great!!!! Recipe courtesy of Shine! From Yahoo!


Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. sour cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup soft, fresh breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp. seafood seasoning
1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. fresh lump crabmeat, drained
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
2 English muffins
4 thick slices Canadian bacon
4 large eggs
Simple Hollandaise

Directions:

Simple Hollandaise
Place 2 pasteurized egg yolks, 2 Tbsp. water, and 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper in a blender. With motor running, add 10 Tbsp. melted butter in a slow, steady stream. Stir in 1 to 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice and 1/8 tsp. salt.

Preparation
Combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Fold in crabmeat. Shape crab mixture into 4 (3-inch) patties; chill 1 hour.

Melt butter with oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add crab cakes, and cook 4 to 6 minutes on each side or until golden. Cover and keep warm.

Split and toast English muffin halves among 4 serving plates; top each with 1 Canadian bacon slice, 1 crab cake, and 1 egg. Drizzle with Simple Hollandaise; serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy this simple dish as much as we do!

XOOX Lyndie

Who You Calling Cabbage Head?

“Cabbage: A vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head-Ambrose Bierce”


Now that Summer time is coming to a close, and we enter Fall, one of my favorite times of Summer are the picnics. Younger when at a picnic, I was all hotdogs and chips – you could not even get me to eat coleslaw…and in all honesty I did not realize till I was older that it consisted of Cabbage, which what little tike likes cabbage?

But as I am older now, my taste buds continue to grow and one of my most favorite staples at a picnic and now from my favorite little café in my building, American Essence, I have grown to love love love me some coleslaw.

I asked today the chef at our little café if the coleslaw he makes is a “secret” recipe or if it was something he was willing to share, and he shared…it was so easy, so of course I had to share!!!


Ingredients:

1 Small head cabbage, shredded
3 medium carrots, shredded
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
A scoop of raisins

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine cabbage and carrots. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Pour over cabbage mixture and toss to coat. Serve with a slotted spoon.


As always enjoy!

XO Lyndie

PS – Thank You JESUS for our recent rains!

A Few Good Eggs

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked – Bernard Meltzer”


Love this quote :) which brings me to today’s recipe, the incredible, edible egg – egg salad that is.

I love love love all sorts of sandwiches and recently fell for a deli near the office that Hubby and I found and they make the best egg salad sandwiches. I was recently craving one and because of my whole experiencing new recipes and such, I can across a real easy one, and I must say it turned out really good!

I think the deli has a few more ingredients, but for just a simple copy-cat version, this is perfect!! Courtesy of ALL Recipes, I came across this one:

Ingredients:

6 large eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise (for my mayonnaise, I have used the one with olive oil in it – mmm good)
1 tablespoon mustard
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Place eggs in a pot and add enough water to cover eggs by at least one inch.

2) Quickly bring the water to a boil, then remove from heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 15 minutes.

3) Remove eggs from hot water and immediately place them in a bowl filled with ice until they're cooled completely.

4) Peel the cooled eggs and dice or mash them.

5) Mix together mayonnaise and mustard; combine with the eggs.

6) Add salt and pepper to taste.

7) Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to combine.


I added a little lettuce to mine and a little extra mayo on the bread, just because I love so much!!

Enjoy!!!

XO Lyndie

Mac – N – Cheese – No Spoon Needed

“For our first date, I made Ryan Hamburger Helper, which is basically what I grew up on. I make my own version of it now, with macaroni and cheese and hamburger meat. And the kids - it's their favorite dinner - Reese Witherspoon”

Mac and Cheese along in my opinion is about as American as Baseball to our country! It is just a staple I feel everyone has in their cupboard next to the maple syrup for Pancakes.

A while ago, Jack-n-Box had on the menu deep-fried Mac-N-Cheese. DELICIOUS!!! They went away and now, James Coney Island has them, but had pondered on making them myself and thanks to All Recipes I found an easy recipe and I had to try it!

I am glad I did --- they are AWESOME, Cheesy & Oh So Easy!!!


Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, olive oil and salt; set aside.

2) Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for about 8 minutes, it should still be a little bit firm. Remove from the heat, drain and return to the pan; stir in the butter and egg until pasta is evenly coated. Reserve 1/2 cup of sharp Cheddar cheese and stir the remaining Cheddar cheese, milk and mozzarella cheese into the pasta. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the reserved cheese and the bread crumb mixture over the tops.

3) Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is nicely browned.

4) Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan. This will allow the cheese to set and they will hold their muffin shape.

Enjoy --- We Did!!

XO Lyndie