Tag: dinner

Tasty Tuesday: Shrimp and Grits

February 14, 2017

This is a staple in our house. I often buy pre-cooked, pre-seasoned shrimp from the grocery store, taking out that step entirely. You know me, I love a good short cut.

Makes 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of grits
  • 4 cups of water
  • Old Bay Seasoning (to taste)
  • two tablespoons of butter
  • 1/2 cup of cheese– I used parmesan, but use what you like!
  • Small green pepper — diced
  • 4 green onions — diced
  • 1 lb of cooked and seasoned shrimp

Place water on stove top on medium high heat. Once boiling, stir in the grits and then reduce to a simmer. Let grits start to cook. When half of the water has been absorbed, stir in the Old Bay, butter, and cheese. Finally, right before the grits are done, stir in the green onion and green pepper.  Lay the shrimp on the top of the cooked grits for about a minute to let them heat up just a bit. Serve piping hot.

Tasty Tuesday: Crab Pot Pie

February 8, 2017


I made this for New Years Day dinner, with that hopping john salad I posted. Such comfort food, and semi-homemade, therefore super easy!

Makes 4 pot pies

Crust:

  • Store bought Pie Dough

Filling:

  • 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 tablespoon of milk (Full disclosure: I used original non-flavored Almond milk)
  • 2 tablespoons of gravy flour
  • 1 large can of VegAll Large Cut Mixed Veggies
  • 16 oz of lump crab meat
  • Old Bay to taste

Line personal pie tins with crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On the stovetop, melt butter. Once butter has melted, add milk and gravy flour. Stir till combined. Add the next three ingredients and mix in until fully coated in the gravy. Fill pies and then top with top piece of crust. Score crust across the top so that they don’t burst!

Serve hot!

Foodie Friday: Baked Chicken Salad

January 20, 2017

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My mother loves this recipe. She  tries to get me to make this all the time. I finally caved and now I know why she keeps pushing me to make it. SO YUMMY! It’s got that crunch that you get with traditional chicken salad, but it is warm, so it’s perfect for these winter months.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups of white meat chicken, diced. (Full disclosure– I bought a rotisserie chicken and used the breast meat.)
  • 1 8 oz can of sliced water chestnuts
  • 1 small jar of diced pimentos
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 1.5 cups of mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup of diced celery
  • can of french fried onions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all the ingredients except the onions in a bowl. Put mixture in a greased casserole dish. Top with french friend onions. Bake 30-40 minutes until bubbly. Serve hot!

Tasty Tuesday: Peanut Chicken and Noodles

January 10, 2017


Had a bunch of veggies and some chicken breasts lying around the house, and decided to throw this together the other night. It is ALMOST a one pot kind of dish (especially if you use pre-cooked noodles, which I didn’t) and it’s great cold so it is a perfect dish for leftovers.

Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:

  • 3 chicken breasts
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 cup of eggplant, cubed
  • 4 spoonfuls of peanut sauce (you can buy or make)
    • 1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter
    • 1/4 soy sauce
    • 2 squirts of lime juice
    • red pepper flakes to taste (of spicy-ness)
  • Rice noodles– enough for 6 people  (it was about half the package I used)

Cook the three chicken breasts over medium heat. While the chicken is cooking, chop up the veggies. Once the chicken is cooked through, throw the veggies in. (If you’re going to cook your own noodles, do this now). Toss the noodles in with the chicken and veggies, and coat with the peanut sauce. Combine thoroughly and serve right off the stove. Enjoy!!

Tasty Tuesday: Lobster Mac and Cheese

January 3, 2017


While everyone else is “new year, new you”, I’m going to nom on some comfort food. Join me. I promise you won’t regret it. (Ok, that’s a dumb promise. I don’t know you. I’m sorry for assuming.)

I made this lobster mac and cheese as part of the surf and turf we had for New Years Eve dinner. It was really yummy and not all that difficult to make, so I wanted to share! If you want to make a larger portion for a main course, you could certainly double or triple the recipe, but this made just enough for a said for the two of us.

Ingredients:

  • Meat of two hefty lobster tails, lumped
  • 1 cup of shaped pasta (I used squiggly ones), cooked al dente
  • 4 cups grated white cheddar cheese
  • 6 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 quart milk (I used skim. So sue me.)
  • 1/4 cup of Wondra flour
  • handful and a sprinkle of panko bread crumbs
  • sprinkle of Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the pasta to al dente and set aside. Melt your butter, then add the flour. Add your milk little by little until a slurry has been made. Take off the heat and stir in the cheddar and keep stirring until completely melted. Combine lobster, pasta, handful of breadcrumbs, and cheesey sauce in a bowl and then pour into greased pyrex dish. Cook for 20 minutes. Add another sprinkle of breadcrumbs and parmesan and finish cooking for another 10 minutes. Eat warm!

Tasty Tuesday: Tofu Stirfry with Rice Noodles

December 13, 2016


Hear me out before you say I don’t like tofu. Did you press it? Like really good? And then did you marinate it? If you can say you did both and then you still didn’t like tofu, fine. You can still make this recipe with chicken or something else.

Makes: enough for the two of us for dinner plus a little extra.

Ingredients:

  • 5 oz of tofu (cut evenly into three pieces to press.)
  • 1/2 cup of chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
  • 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms
  • Teriyaki marinade
  • Rice noodles

 

About an hour before you’re going to start cooking, place your tofu in a paper towel sandwich between two plates. Weight the plates down, and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Change the paper towels at least once in this time frame. Once pressed, cut tofu into bite size chunks, and marinate in the teriyaki for another 20-30 minutes.

During this time,  preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line your cookie tray with aluminum foil. When the tofu is nice and marinated, place on baking sheet. Cook for 20 minutes and then turn and let cook for another 10-15 minutes (this isn’t an exact science because my oven is pretty wompy). After you’ve turned the tofu, saute your onions, carrots, and mushrooms. Get some water on the stovetop for the rice noodles and bring to a boil. When your tofu is done in the oven, toss it in with your onion, carrots, and mushrooms. Saute that while your rice noodles are cooking. Serve hot with some soy sauce. Enjoy!!

Tasty Tuesday: Dump Crockpot Chili

December 6, 2016


This chili recipe is really so stinking easy it’s not even funny. You can put it together in minutes in the morning before you go to work, let it cook, and then it’s ready by dinner.

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs of ground beef (I use 90/10 lean beef)
  • 1 can of ranch style beans — DO NOT DRAIN (If you don’t get ranch style beans, you will want to drain. These are specific chili style beans that have lots of good flavoring in the juice.)
  • 24 oz  of Mexican Style dark beer
  • Chili seasoning (Confession: I use store bought)
  • 2 cup beef stock

Put everything in a crock pot. Turn on low for 8 hours. Stir occasionally. Enjoy for dinner.

YES. That is literally it. No need to sear the beef first since you’re cooking it for so long low and slow. The Mexican beer gives this chili a hearty flavor. YUM! Serve it up with some cornbread and your favorite chili fixings (cheese, sour cream, onion)!

Foodie Friday: Brown Sugar and Mustard Carrots

December 4, 2016


This is one of my favorite side dishes for a big dinner party and it’s so easy. Great to serve with turkey, roast, even ribs and/or barbeque, and it’s sure to please a crowd!

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb of baby carrots
  • 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 2 and half tablespoons of brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard

First, microwave the carrots until crisp-tender, about 6 or so minutes. While this is happening, melt the butter in a skillet. Stir in brown sugar and mustard until a smooth sauce is made. Toss the carrots in the sauce and cook one additional minute. Serve in a chafing dish to keep warm through the whole party!

Tasty Tuesday: Cajun Style BBQ Shrimp

November 15, 2016

These are so tasty and such a treat (with all that butter, you’ll understand why!). Now that the seasons have changed, it’s a great meal but with not such a heavy protein source!

Ingredients:

  • enough shrimp for everyone whose eating (I used 15 for the two of us!)
  • olive oil to coat the pan
  • 2 tablespoons of cajun seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon of southern BBQ seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons of garlic paste
  • 4 tablespoons of butter
  • 1/4 cup of beer

Heat olive oil in pan. Brown the garlic. Once the garlic has browned, add the cajun and bbq seasoning and toast that up for about 2 minutes. Add the butter and the beer and let that simmer for about 10-15 minutes until a nice thick sauce has come to. Cook the shrimp in the sauce until pink and opaque. (The amount of time this takes will depend on how hot your sauce and pan is!).  Serve hot with a baguette for dipping!

Tasty Tuesday: New Mexican Roasted Vegetable and Pork Soup

October 4, 2016

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I told you guys I was loving soup right now. So here’s another one! This originated from a Paula Deen recipe, but alas I lost the recipe but had the general idea of what I wanted it to taste like. So, this weekend, I set out to recreate it and it was delicious.

Makes: 6-8 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 3 hatch chiles
  • 6 tomatillos
  • 3 roma tomatoes
  • 1 pork tenderloin
  • 1 packet of pork concentrate (I used this one.)
  • 16 oz of Mexican-style dark beer
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 tablespoons of Mexican-style seasoning– I really like Taste of Taos.

Broil the hatch chiles, tomatillos, and tomatoes for 15 minutes. While that is happening, sear tenderloin on all side. Once roasted, blend the veggies in the food processor/blender. Add tomatillo blend, pork concentrate, water, Mexican-style seasoning, and beer to the crockpot. Set heat up before adding the tenderloin. Cook on high for 4 hours. Serve hot with a sprinkle of mexican cheese!