Friday, May 13, 2011

Menu Plan Friday

Yesterday was such a busy day that I never got around to menu planning, much less going to the grocery store. So with everyone else in town, I headed to the grocery store today.

This is what the menu looks like this week, not very inspiring:

Friday: Roasted Chicken Breasts, Mac/Cheese (I'm lazy today)
Saturday: Sugar Ray's Baby Back Ribs, Sauted Squash and Onions, Homemade Hashbrown Casserole
Sunday: Mom's for dinner
Monday: Grilled Steak, Risotto Primavera
Tuesday: Zumba night, so Mr. G is making soup
Wednesday: Barbeque Chicken, Grilled Squash, and Steamed Broccoli

Hopefully next week's menu will look more healthy and more appealing.

Since I am so uninspired today, please tell me, what is your favorite meals to make?

Saturday, May 7, 2011

A Taste of the South

On weekends I enjoy cooking true comfort food, food that takes a while to make, but food that is so worth it. To me comfort food just makes me feel all warm and cozy on the inside. Tonight's menu was no different. We had barbecue chicken (see recipe below), roasted sweet potatoes and corn casserole (see recipe below). This dinner was not quite the best for us, but it sure was tasty!

Barbeque Chicken      www.thepioneerwoman.com

  • 18 whole chicken legs (I used 4 leg quarters)
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/4 whole onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (additional) brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons distilled vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/3 cups molasses
  • 4 tablespoons chipotle adobe sauce (omitted)
  • dash of salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place chicken on a broiler pan or any pan with a rack, then roast for 20 minutes. While the chicken is roasting, heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook for five minutes, stirring being careful not to burn.

Reduce heat to low. Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir. Allow to simmer while the chicken roasts. Taste after simmering to adjust seasoning.

After 20 minutes of roasting, crank on the broiler to get a little color on the chicken. Broil for about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from oven. Reduce oven to 350 degrees. With tongs, dip each piece of chicken into the sauce, submerging completely. Place back onto the pan. After all the chicken is coated, return pan to oven for five minutes, or until hot and sizzling. Remove from oven. Allow chicken to rest for a few minutes before serving.

I hope you enjoy this barbeque sauce as much as we do. It is not too sweet nor have a high vinegar taste.


Corn Casserole     Paula Deen www.foodnetwork.com
1 can whole kernel corn  (I used 3 fresh ears of corn)
1 can creamed corn
1 box corn muffin mix
1 cup sour cream
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all together except for cheese. Pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with cheese. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

This is a wonderful casserole to take to a potluck. It reminds me a lot of hashbrown casserole except with corn instead of potatoes.


What is your favorite comfort food? I would love to hear from you!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Happy Belated Cinco de Mayo!

So Mr. G and I are all about celebrating holidays, especially those centered around food. Although yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, I was busy with work and Zumba, so we did not celebrate. Tonight however we had a Mexican feast! While I was surfing the internet for a new Mexican recipe, there were so many to choose from. Did I want to go safe and just do tacos or nachos? Then I found the perfect recipe. Sarasota's Chorizo and Black Bean Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers. At first I thought, "nope.. Mr. G hates black beans", but then the wife gene came through and thought, "who cares if he doesn't like them, he can learn to like them" :) Thankfully, this recipe is perfect for any fiesta. We turned on Latin music and had a wonderful time. If you like spicy food, you will definately enjoy this. I served this with fiesta rice, which calmed down some of the spice.

Here's the recipe, my changes are in italics:

Sarasota's Chorizo and Black Bean Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers     www.food.com
4 large cubanelle peppers, cut in half lengthwise with seeds and ribs removed
3 chorizo sausage
1 jalapenos, diced fine, seeds and ribs removed
1 cup onions, diced fine
1 celery rib, diced fine
3 large plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 large egg
2 slices bread
3/4 cup milk (I omitted the bread and milk and used breadcrumbs instead)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, fine chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano (omitted)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (I omitted these cheeses and used 1/2 cup of grated pepper jack)

Topping
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (I omitted these and once again used about 1 cup of grated pepper jack)

Remove the sausage from the casing. Saute on medium heat until golden brown. It will take about 5-8 minutes. Remove the sausage to a small plate lined with a paper towel to drain.

In the same pan with a little of the pan drippings, saute the garlic, onion, jalapeno, and celery until tender; then add in the black beans and tomato and cook another minute or two. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add in the chorizo, cheese, egg, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix together then add breadcrumbs.

Stuff the pepper halves with the filling and top with cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Mr. G thought this was wonderful. I agree.
Mr. G gave it 9.5 out of 10, pretty good in my opinion considering the black beans.

What did you do for Cinco de Mayo? Did you go out and celebrate or stay in and have a fiesta at home?

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Menu Plan Thursday

I know that it has been ages since I have posted, but life has been very busy lately. Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of things and post regularly :)
If you are like me, you normally buy groceries on Thursday, so my menu starts on Thursday and ends on Wednesday. What I try to do is look at the weekly ads and plan my menu from there. We also try to throw in as many veggies as possible, but Mr. G has not hit the whole vegetarian wagon yet, so I have to be careful when planning meals. We like to try new recipes a lot, so each week there are new and interesting recipes. Hopefully, I can post how well the dishes turned out, if I remember :)
Here is the menu for the Seese's for the week:
Thursday: Spicy Italian Subs
Friday: Chorizo and Black Bean Stuffed Cubanelles with fiesta rice
Saturday: BBQ Chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and corn casserole
Sunday: Mother's Day We are having both mothers over and the menu will be
Shallot Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and chocolate pie for dessert
Monday: Mr. G. is off so we will be heading to his mother's house for dinner
Tuesday: Mother/Daughter Banquet at church
Wednesday: Hot Dogs and Pasta Salad
Since I have Zumba on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Mr. G. is in charge of dinners. He is a great cook and I am thankful that he is willing to cook so very late for us.
It seems that life has gotten really busy for me lately. Besides working and being a wonderful wife there are so many other things on my plate. I am trying to study for my MAT's, so I can enter a graduate program at L-R (go Bears!) in the fall, and I have many different responsibilities at my church. Finding time for myself is kinda hard, and cooking is one "breath of air" that I find relaxing. It seems like all of the problems in the world are gone when I am in the kitchen. I start most meals from scratch and turn out (in my opinion) some of the most wonderful meals. I am very thankful that God has given me this talent and to me that is why I am so passionate about cooking. I guess you could say that it is my destresser.
When you have an overloaded plate in life, what are some ways you destress?