The Eeny Meeny Miny Mo Cook

Why I Need to be a Paula Deen Blogger!!!

2012-10-30T20:24:00.002-05:00

Oh yes my faithful readers. I saw where the one and only Paula Deen is doing a search for new bloggers to add to her website. You know I went crazy hog wild when I saw this.

One of the criteria for consideration is that you write a post about why you need to be that blogger. Lord have mercy. Well here we go. I am writing that post.

I need to be that blogger. Paula Deen is the reason I started writing my blog. She made me love food and feeding family and friends again. I had gone through a period where I did not enjoy cooking or menu planning or anything of the sort. Then I was introduced to Paula on the Food Network and immediately went "cuckoo for cocoa puffs" as they say. I started cooking up a storm.

I got so addicted that I thought to myself "I want to do something with food." But Self said "You don't know how to write a cookbook. You can't have a TV show because you would turn red, stutter, and your hands would shake. You can't own a restaurant because you don't know a thing about running a business. Besides you are a teacher. But the thing that you could do to satisfy this need for food is to write a blog." Then I thought "Oh my goodness!! There are millions of food blogs out in the nanosphere!! How will mine be different? Why would anyone want to read my blog?" Then it hit me. I would play Eeny Meeny Miny Mo with my cookbooks. I would let the game choose the recipe, and the rest is history. It has been one of the most rewarding undertakings of my life. So I have to be that blogger that gets chosen. I want to show my readers how to take a chance and enjoy food again. I want to inspire them to try something new and laugh a little bit along the way. After all, that is what my blog and life are all about.

PS Pick me, pick me, pick me!!!!!

High School Homecoming and Pioneer Woman's Food from my Frontier Roasted Cauliflower

2012-10-30T19:45:00.001-05:00

Here we go again. I have fallen in the trap of life where you don't have time to turn around. I am way behind - again - on the blog. I feel so guilty when I don't write my blog. That is a good thing though. It means I really enjoy doing it!! I miss it!

I have once again over-committed at school. I volunteered to be the Junior Class sponsor. I asked the officers what this meant. They responded "Oh you only have to fill out a couple of purchase orders, and that is it!" I actually believed them. I will never believe them again! This is how it went down. How about you have to help us construct an 8 foot by 10 foot banner for Homecoming, and every time we work on it, you have to be there with us, or we will be disqualified!! Hmmmm....... How about you have to figure out how to construct it because we are teenage girls and don't have a clue? How about I am an adult woman and don't have a clue? How about we want to do a design with tissue paper and chicken wire? How about why don't we make it easy and do it on a piece of cardboard? Oh no!! So I had to call on Husband Fred to help with the construction. I was at a complete loss to put it bluntly. We had to go to Lowe's and pick out wood, chicken wire, and screws for this little project. I was at a complete loss in Lowe's. I don't know what a 2x4 or a 1x4 is or that there are such things as wood screws. We then had to meet on a Saturday for Husband Fred (who moves at the speed of turtle) to screw together what seemed like 10,000 pieces of wood and chicken wire to make this very very large banner. We finally got it done, and then had to figure out how to move it from the place where we were working on it to the school without losing the one million pieces of tissue paper. That was fun too. We finally got it in place for all to see. And we got second place. We were all quite upset if you know what I mean. I don't think I demonstrated good sportsmanship to my little charges. Oh well. Now they tell me they are having a "Hoopcoming" in January for basketball season. I am going to run and hide.

Now on to the recipe.....I am still cooking out of The Pioneer Woman's Food From my Frontier. I love the Pioneer Woman. That is all I am going to say about that. The Eeny game chose Roasted Cauliflower. I thought Yuck to myself. I knew Food Police would be happy. Again the Eeny Game is working because I would have NEVER tried this if it was left up to me. Thank you Eeny Game.

You will need a head of cauliflower, salt, pepper, olive oil, butter (I used Smart Balance), and panko bread crumbs.

Cut the cauliflower into little florets, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place in a 400 degree oven and roast for 20 minutes.

Transfer the cauliflower to a baking dish and add the panko crumbs that you have mixed with melted butter to the top. What could be better??

Put back in the 400 degree oven and roast for 5 minutes, and the dish will come out looking like this. It was very good even if I must say so myself.

Here is your recipe....

Roasted Cauliflower

The Pioneer Woman's Food from my Frontier

1 cauliflower head, cut up into pieces

1/4 C olive oil (I only used a drizzle Food Police)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 C panko bread crumbs

4 T melted butter (I used 1 T of Smart Balance Food Police)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the cauliflower on a large sheet pan and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss the cauliflower to coat it evenly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roast the cauliflower for 20 minutes until golden brown with some darker parts.

Add the bread crumbs to a bowl, pour on the melted butter, and mix well. Place the cauliflower into a medium baking dish and mound the crumbs on top. Roast for 5 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Now go have a great day.....

Internet Offers and The Pioneer Woman Cooks' Panfried Kale

2012-10-07T20:06:00.000-05:00

You know you are getting older when your e-mail inbox becomes full of offers from the Scooter Store. Every day I have a Scooter Store offer in my inbox. I hope I never have to use a Scooter but if I have to, I will take command of my Scooter. I will ride it like I am on the track at Talledega. People will know I am coming their way on my Scooter. I will back that Scooter up just to create that little beep-beep-beep sound. I am not kidding either.

I got to thinking and checked out some of the other offers I have received since turning 50 about 4 years ago. I had one from Dermatend Mole and Skin Tag Removal. The catch is they will sell you the directions to do this at HOME!! WHAT??!!! Good grief. I also have had offers to join the AARP, solve my snoring, put together a reverse mortgage, get help for my depression, hot flashes, and loss of hair, and offers for products to remove and erase wrinkles. If I were a single lady, I could find all kinds of places to go and meet nice senior men over the age of 50. UGH!! I will pass on all, thank you very much.

On to the recipe... The Eeny game chose Panfried Kale. I was depressed about that. I don't really go for the superfood called kale. Of course, Food Police is all over it. She stated in her Food Police voice that it is full of Vitamin K and beta carotene. I told her "That is just what I need - more beta carotene and Vitamin K! Does it have any saturated fat or carbs or sugar?!!" She glared and countered that now people are roasting kale and eating it instead of potato chips. WHAT??!! People need to get a life and just eat some potato chips.

I promised that I would not cheat on the game so here we go. I resisted, but it was really really good, and I felt super-healthy eating it. I almost think I might like it better than turnip greens. Oh my!!

You will need just some kale, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Simply heat the oil, and add the kale, 5 cloves of garlic minced, salt and pepper. Cook until it is wilted which is about 2 minutes.

Here is your recipe....

1 large bunch of kale ( I got the Glory Brand in the bag)

3 Tbs olive oil

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Thoroughly wash the kale in cold water. Heat the olive oil in a LARGE skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and quickly stir to avoid burning the garlic. Throw in the kale and use tongs to move it around. Sprinkle in plenty of salt and pepper and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove and serve.

Now go have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!

Brown Sugar Barbecue Sandwiches

2012-09-30T15:42:00.005-05:00

This is a non-Eeny recipe for your enjoyment. My plan is to do several of these type recipes a week to give you some more recipes. I won't have a story -- just the recipe.

I made these sandwiches when we were having some people over for a ballgame. SO GOOD!! I served it with sweet potato fries and a salad. Even the Food Police approved.

Brown Sugar Barbecue Sandwiches

1 C water
3/4 C catsup
2 T brown sugar, packed
1 onion, chopped
2 T mustard
1 T chili powder
2 t salt
1 t black pepper
2 lbs lean ground beef
12 sandwich buns, split

In a large saucepan, mix all ingredients except beef and buns. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add UNCOOKED beef (you are reading it right); simmer for 30 minutes. Spoon onto buns.

Makes 12 servings

Now go have a great day......

The Older Generation and The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from my Frontier's Herb-Roasted Pork Tenderloin

2012-09-29T16:13:00.001-05:00

I love the older generation. We can learn so so much from them. I know that when I was working as a nurse, my favorite patients were the older ones. Now I work with teenagers. Hmmm, but I digress.   I have recently entered a new phase in my life which involves the older generation.   My father, who is approaching 80, has started showing some signs that he needs extra help around the house. I have written about him in two separate posts - the one where he dressed as Elvis for a Titans game and the one where he took me on Mr. Toad's (Tom's) Wild Ride. He is definitely one of a kind that is for sure. That got me to thinking about older people and how truly special they are.

Over the last six months or so, I have witnessed two "older generation" moments. One day I was walking out of an office building, and I saw the sweetest scene involving what looked like a husband and wife well into their 80's. She was stooped over the water fountain holding tightly onto her walker.   He was standing as close as he could to her holding her arm with one hand and pushing the lever to release the water for her with his other hand. He was quietly saying something to her. I took a mental picture and wondered what all they had experienced during their long life together. I am sure it was most definitely a life filled with devotion and love.

About a month ago, I was driving down my street into the neighborhood. I witnessed an older lady probably in her late 70's taking a stroll down the sidewalk. She was walking with purpose but then suddenly came to an abrupt halt. She began to bend over, and the nurse in me thought "Oh no!! Something is wrong. She is about to faint!" I stopped the car to see if she needed help. No!! She was bending over to smell a flower on a fence post. She literally "stopped and smelled the roses!"  She then stood up and had the sweetest smile on her face. I literally got tears in my eyes. She reminded me of my sweet grandmother - Nana - who always had time to stop and smell the roses.

Oh goodness. On to the recipe.... I am now cooking out of a new cookbook. I decided to cheat on Paula and move to my next queen bee in the kitchen - Ree Drummond or the Pioneer Woman. I love her show on Food Network. I am in love with her youngest son Todd who has to be the cutest thing I have ever seen. Besides being cute, he is the sweetest little thing too. He is always telling Mom that her food is the best he has ever eaten.   The Eeny Game chose Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin, and I can say that is probably the best tenderloin I have put in my mouth.

I love this cookbook period.

You will need a pork tenderloin, salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, red wine vinegar, and peach preserves. Weird I know.

Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper, and then cover it with the herbes de Provence and place in a 425 degree oven. She called for 15 minutes but I cooked it for 30 minutes. I cannot stand too pink meat. I worry about trichinosis.

She called for it to be served over a cornmeal cake. I did not make those but I did have some leftover corn muffins. I placed the piece of pork on that and drizzled with the topping made of vinegar and the preserves. YUMMY!! You must make this!!

Here is your recipe......

Herb-roasted Pork Tenderloin

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from my Frontier

2 Pork Tenderloins, 1 to 1 1/2 pounds each

Salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 C herbes de Provence ( I used 1/4 C)

1 C fig, peach, or plum preserves (I used peach)

1 tbs vinegar (I used red wine)

Lay the pork tenderloins on a sheet pan and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the herbes de Provence, then roast in a 425 oven for 13 to 15 minutes (I cooked it for 30 minutes). Allow the pork to rest for ten minutes, then slice it into thick pieces. Meanwhile, stir together the preserves, the vinegar, and 1 cup of water. Heat over medium heat until thoroughly warmed. Spoon the preserve mixture over the slices of pork.

Now go have a great day......

Food Police's Birthday and Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible's Grilled Red Pepper Scallops

2012-09-16T11:08:00.001-05:00

Twenty-nine years ago today in 1983 (Oh my) at 7:48 am, a little baby Food Police - 7 pounds 9 1/2 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long - was born in Birmingham, Alabama. My how time does fly!! I finally understand what that means!! It really just seems like yesterday. I thought about all the things I could write about Food Police. I decided I would take a look at her Baby Book to help me recall some of the moments early on in Food Police's life.

Husband Fred and I were living in Little Rock, Arkansas at the time, and on January 25 at 5:00 am, I did a home pregnancy test, and of course, it was positive! To make things really exciting for a morning-sick pregnant lady, we packed up and moved to Birmingham in February. I was so glad to be closer to home. I went into labor around 11 pm on September 15th, 1983. Believe it or not, I was reading a cookbook and writing down recipes. The recipe was a caramel cake!! I immediately jumped up, and we straightened the house (the good old nesting instinct) and headed to Brookwood Medical Center. Husband Fred ran two red lights on the way!! Oh my!! I ended up having a C-section because the cord was wrapped around her neck. Scary times, but all was well. We each wrote something to her in her baby book reflecting on her birth. I wrote "I remember hearing your loud cry and hearing the doctor announce 'It's a girl!' I then remember your daddy saying 'She has two legs!' They brought you to me, and you actually looked at me for a split second." Husband Fred wrote that "the nurses asked if I wanted to carry you to get weighed and foot printed. That's when I got to hold you for the first time. What a moment!"

This is a picture of Food Police and my sweet Mama. This is a page of her baby book. I saved all the bracelets and the little card that was on her bassinette.

I looked at some of her firsts that I had written about in the Baby Book. She sat without support at 6 months, pulled herself up at 7 months, walked on July 5, 1984 at 9 1/2 months and said her first word - Bubba - at 8 months. Bubba was our dachshund that she absolutely loved. Her first sentence was "You not Mommy - You Mommy!" which she said at 18 months. I have no clue what that meant. Her favorite toy was a stuffed dog that she called "Big Bubba!" Her favorite book was "The Cow says Moo!" She counted to ten in December of 1985. She saw snow for the first time on January 20, 1985. I even looked back over her birthday parties. I wrote about them in detail in the baby book. Her first birthday was with family at my Bigmama's house. Everything was in pink. She cried when we sang Happy Birthday. Her second birthday was in Birmingham and had a Care Bear theme. I even made the 3-D Care Bear cake and about had a nervous breakdown. I had taken up smocking and had smocked the little pink rosebud dress she wore. The third birthday was focused outside and had a Crayon theme. The fourth birthday was interesting. We had just moved back to Huntsville and had it at my Bigmama's house again. I had hired a clown who had to be the worst clown in the world. She did these cheesy tricks like putting quarters on her elbow and trying to flip them and catch them. She kept missing them over and over and over again. My Dad said he could smell alcohol on her breath. That is all I am saying about that. The fifth birthday was at what was then called Showbiz Pizza Place but is now called Chuckie Cheese. I got a migraine. The sixth birthday was at home, and it had a Fairy Princess theme. I even made a castle cake, and she got a Power Wheel's Jeep. She would not let anyone else drive it which caused a scene. The seventh party was at the old Ice Palace on Governor's Drive, and she received I think the best present ever. Old Bubba had passed away that year, and she got her Golden Retriever Puppy Ginger - the best dog in the whole wide world. For her birthday today, Food Police wanted my Chicken Tortilla Soup and a salad. She wants to watch the Titans game, and then go get frozen yogurt. And that is what we shall do!! I think I will stop now. I can't see through the tears. I will say, however, that Food Police has grown up to be a young woman that I am very very proud of. She has empathy for others and a heart the size of Texas. She works hard and is self-motivated like no other. She loves her church, her family, and her home. I love you Food Police.

Now on to the recipe......This is the last recipe that I will be preparing out of Paula's Southern Cooking Bible. I will miss you Paula. I must say it again! This is the best cookbook ever. The game chose Grilled Red Pepper Scallops, and all I can say is YUMMY!!! Oh my goodness it is good!!

Get some good sea scallops. This is a shout-out to Doug's Seafood in St. George Island, Florida - the best place in the world. He has a food truck and every day we go visit him and buy the best seafood in the world. I love Doug!

You don't need much - just scallops, a lemon, 2 red bell peppers, olive oil, salt and pepper.

First, you have to roast the bell peppers. I had never done this before, but it is so easy. You halve the peppers, place them skin side up and broil on high until the skin is charred about 6-10 minutes. They come out looking like this.

Thread the scallops and peppers on skewers and cook under the broiler for about 3 minutes per side. Excuse the old pizza pan!!

I served it with a baked potato and broccoli!! So so good!

Here is the recipe. Hers is for 6 people but I cut it down for Husband Fred and me!!

Grilled Red Pepper Scallops

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

1 1/2 pounds large sea scallops

2 Tbs olive oil

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Black pepper

4 large red bell peppers

In a medium bowl, combine the scallops, oil, lemon zest, and black pepper to taste. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the bell peppers.

Preheat the broiler to high heat. Halve the bell peppers lengthwise and remove the stems, seeds, and rib. Place the bell peppers skin side up on a baking sheet and broil without turning for 6 to minutes until the skin is charred. Place the peppers in a paper bag, close the top tight, and let the peppers steam for 10 minutes. Remove the charred skins and cut the bell peppers lengthwise in 3/4 - inch strips.

Wrap a bell pepper strip around each scallop to cover completely, overlapping the pepper ends. Secure the strips by running a 10-inch skewer through the scallop and bell pepper. Divide the scallops among 6 skewers.

Cook under the broiler for about 3 minutes per side and serve.

Now go have a great day......

I Have Been Thinking.....

2012-09-13T19:34:00.004-05:00

I have been writing my Eeny Meeny Miny Mo Cook blog now for over a year, and I have truly enjoyed this culinary adventure. I have heard from many of you that you have enjoyed my stories and recipes, and I have received positive feedback from al.com that new people are reading it there. Several of my trusted readers have said that I should continue to play the Eeny game with my cookbooks and still take pictures and write about life, but in between those posts, talk about different recipes that I am preparing for my family. For these posts, I will just give you the recipe not the whole process of pictures and stories. It will be just a quick "Hey, I cooked this, here's the recipe, and you need to try it." Let me know what you think.

So let's give this a go. Last week I made Paula's Steak Fajitas and can I say delicious plus so so easy. I have always been afraid of flank steak, but it is my new best friend. You just have to slice it against the grain. Here you go....

Paula's Smoky Steak Fajitas

1 1/2 pounds flank steak
1/4 C olive oil
1 tbs fresh lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt and black pepper
1 green bell pepper, cut lengthwise into strips
1 onion, cut into slices
6 flour tortillas - 8 inches
Guacamole, salsa, and sour cream for serving

Place the steak in a Ziploc bag. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, jalapeno, cumin, garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Pour the marinade over the steak, turning to coat all over. Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight. Let the steak come to room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.

Preheat the grill to medium-high. Brush the bell pepper and onion with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and black pepper. Place the onion in a single layer in a grill basket. Place the basket on the grill, cover, and cook turning until the onion is tender and slightly charred, 4-5 minutes per side. Set the onion on a plate.

Place the bell pepper in a single layer in the grill basket. Place the basket on the grill, cover, and cook, turning, until the bell pepper is tender and slightly charred, 2 - 3 minutes per side. Set on a plate separate from the onion.

Increase the grill heat to high. Remove the steak from the marinade, place on the grill, cover, and cook, turning once, until the steak reaches the doneness you like. We did 5 minutes per side for medium. Let the steak rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly.

Now go have a great day.....

Football and Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible's Pot Roast

2012-09-08T15:23:00.000-05:00

There is no way around it. I love football. I am that person that believes there are four seasons in life - Preseason, Regular season, Post-season, and Off-season. Sometimes I wish that I had been born a man so that I could have played football. I am that person who when watching football with other people does not want to talk about anything else unless it relates to the game. That drives me nuts!! Go in the other room if you want to talk about fashion or makeup or heaven forbid, politics. I have my own Fantasy Football team! I love both college (Roll Tide) and professional football, but if I had to pick my favorite, it would have to be the NFL!!!

I was introduced to football when I was just 10 years old. I would sit on the couch with my Dad, and we would watch and watch and watch football. I think those were some of my most favorite times spent with him. He would actually explain the game to me. We watched the infamous "Heidi" game together in November of '68. It was the Raiders versus the Jets! The Jets were leading 32-29 with just a minute and five seconds left on the clock. The Raiders had the ball and were driving, NBC went to commercial, and when they came back, we were viewing the opening scenes to Heidi. I hate that movie to this day because of that. We later found out that the Raiders scored two touchdowns in nine seconds to beat the Jets 43-32. WHAT???

I was watching Super Bowl III when Broadway Joe Namath predicted on Thursday that his lowly underdog New York Jets team would beat the Baltimore Colts and Johnny Unitas. His prediction came true, and the Jets won 16-7. Namath was crowned the MVP, and I officially at 11 years of age had a crush on Broadway Joe. Oh goodness.

I was watching Super Bowl IV when the Chiefs and the Vikings matched up. I found an entry in my diary that will attest to this fact.

I think it is funny how I crossed out the "not" on going to church. Who knows!! I guess I was for the Vikings that day as the Diary reads. I do remember that I loved their quarterback Joe Kapp and the best defensive end of all times, the great Carl Eller.
When Husband Fred and I started dating, I was excited to find that he loved football as much as I did. One of the first things we did as a married couple was to buy season tickets to the Atlanta Falcons. I can say that those were some of my most favorite times spent with Husband Fred driving back and forth to Atlanta cheering on the Falcons even though they were not that great. We did make it to a play-off game one year, but we got beat by the Cowboys. The ride home was really long after that one. We had to sell those tickets when we moved to Arkansas. It was sad times, but then along came the Tennessee Titans. We put ourselves on the waiting list of over 30,000 people to purchase season tickets, and lo and behold, about 5 years ago, seats became available. They are unfortunately in the last row of the upper deck but who cares!! It is a boisterous bunch up there. It must be the lack of oxygen from being up in the clouds, but we cherish every moment we are there. We kick-off the season tomorrow, and the Titans will need help. We play the Patriots, and oh my goodness!!

Now on to the recipe. I am still playing the Eeny Game with Paula Deen and her Southern Cooking Bible. I tell you this is the best cookbook ever. You must go buy it for yourself. The Game chose her Lady and Sons Pot Roast, and this is by far, the best roast I have ever eaten. You must make it this weekend. It had so much flavor and it was so so so tender. I wish I had some right now!

You will need a 3-pound chuck roast, onion, bay leaves, white wine, beef bouillon cubes, garlic, Paula's House Seasoning (which I will tell you how to make in a sec), and cream of mushroom soup.

Sprinkle the roast with Paula's House Seasoning. It is a great all-around seasoning. You mix 1 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of black pepper, and 1/4 cup of garlic powder. I just mix a big batch of it and even give it away as Christmas gifts. People love it!

Brown the roast on all sides about 5 minutes per side.

Place the roast in the crock pot and cover it with soup, garlic and crushed bouillon cube mixture.

Then add the sliced onion and bay leaves on top of the soup, and pour in the wine. You add just enough water to cover the roast.

You take it out of the crockpot after about 8 hours. and it is the best thing you will ever eat. PS I got a high five from Food Police for my choice of sides. Yes that is HALF of a baked potato with Smart Balance spread and no fat sour cream.

Here is your recipe......

The Lady and Sons Pot Roast

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

One 3-pound boneless chuck roast

1 1/2 tsps Paula Deen's House Seasoning

Salt and black pepper

Vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

3 bay leaves

3 or 4 bouillon cubes, crushed

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 C Chardonnay or other full-bodied white wine

Sprinkle the roast on all sides with House Seasoning. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the roast and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes per side.

Place the roast in a slow cooker. Place the onion, bay leaves, crushed bouillon cubes, garlic, and soup on top of roast. Pour in the wine, and add just enough water to cover the roast. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove and discard the bay leaves before serving.

Now go have a great day......

Neil Armstrong and Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible's Pecan Crusted Chicken Breasts

2012-09-01T13:28:00.003-05:00

When I saw the news alert about Neil Armstrong's death, I immediately remembered where I was on that July 20, 1969 when he became the first man to walk on the moon. I was eleven years old and spending a day on the lake with my Great-aunt Roxie. (I will definitely have to write later about her. She was a true pioneer in every sense of the word.) I remember crying because we had to leave the lake early to go watch the moon landing on TV(and I am sure I thought the stupid moon landing - I was only 11 y'all). But I am so thankful that we did. I remember sitting down together as a family around the television and being so proud of what we were seeing that day. I love the statement that Neil Armstrong's family made after he passed away -"For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.” I will certainly do that!

Here is an entry I wrote in my diary about that day. I don't know why it says July 29th. I probably wrote about it after the fact and just guessed at the date. Who knows??? I was eleven!!

I imagine being born in Huntsville, AL - the Rocket City- has made me more aware of NASA, the Marshall Space Flight Center, Dr. Von Braun, the Space and Rocket Center, and all the things associated with the space program. I remember my Nana taking me to Redstone Arsenal for an open house where they were testing the rocket engines. I still remember how loud and how scared I was when that engine fired. I remember Challenger sitting on the back of a Boeing airplane in the late 70's or early 80's and how we all stood outside together to watch it fly over and take pictures. It makes sense that our schools are named for astronauts and shuttles - Grissom, Chaffee, Ed White, Challenger, Discovery. For the most part, I watched every Shuttle flight including the Challenger disaster in January of 1986. I was so sad that day. I remember exactly where I was that day too.

I am excited about the Mars rover that has been sending back some awesome pictures here lately. I hope we see a resurgence in our Space Program. It just shows how innovative, intelligent, and courageous we are!! I believe the Space Program brings us together as a country. It gives us something positive to root for!! We need that now more than ever.

Now, on to something else that brings us together. FOOD!! I am still cooking out of Paula Deen's Southern Living Cooking Bible. I am addicted to this cookbook. I am going to prepare one or two more from it, and then move on to the Pioneer Woman who is fast becoming a new favorite. Don't tell Paula please!! The Game selected Pecan Crusted Chicken Breasts this time. Hmmmmm......Paula calls it her version of chicken nuggets. Let me tell you they were a home run. I will prepare these bad boys again!!

You will need chicken breasts, mayo, panko, pecans, salt and pepper. That is it.

Sprinkle each breast with a little salt and pepper. Then coat each breast with a teaspoon of mayo.

Dredge each breast in the chopped pecans and panko. Place in a dish and bake for 30 - 40 minutes at 350 until brown.

When you are done, it will look like this. I know I will get in trouble for the mac and cheese on the plate, but it was actually Lean Cuisine's low fat mac!! Ha Food Police.

Here is your recipe......

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Breasts

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

4 boneless chicken breasts

1 1/2 tsp salt (I didn't use this much salt)

1/2 tsp pepper

4 tsp mayonnaise ( I used light)

3/4 c pecans, crushed ( Mine were chopped)

3/4 c panko bread crumbs

Place an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a baking dish.

Sprinkle the chicken with 1 tsp of the salt and pepper. Coat each breast with 1 tsp of mayonnaise. In a shallow dish, toss the pecans and bread crumbs together. Dredge the chicken in the bread crumb mixture, pressing firmly to make sure it sticks well to the chicken. Season with the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt and place in the dish. Bake until the crust is nicely browned and the chicken is cooked through, 30 - 40 minutes.

Now go have a great day.....

Husband Fred and Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible's Basic Meat Loaf

2012-08-25T15:33:00.002-05:00

Husband Fred and I have been married for 33 years. Wow!! He has had to put up with a lot from me over the years. The main thing he has had to deal with is "The Plan", as he says, to kill him. I wanted to update you on "The Plan." PS If you don't know exactly what "The Plan" is, please go back and read that blog post. It will become crystal clear what is going on.

First, there have been two new attempts on Husband Fred's life by me. The first one was about two weeks ago at Body Pump when I did not fully tighten my weights on the bar. When I picked up the bar, the weights flew off and headed toward Husband Fred's foot. He jumped around and made a big scene and yelled out "She is trying to kill me!" Amber - the Wonder Instructor - looked our way and just shook her head. We probably irritate her. We have that husband - wife competitiveness thing going on in class -- who can lift more weight, who can stand for the longest on one leg, who can do a better push-up and plank.

The second attempt occurred two nights ago when once again I took off my shoes in the path to the bathroom. I don't know why I do this. I guess it is just laziness. I was pooped from Body Pump and my first week back at school, and I did not feel like moving them three feet over out of the path. During the middle of the night, he got up to go to the bathroom and, of course, walked right where I left my shoes. Why didn't he just walk six inches to the right or left, and then he would have missed them and not lurched head forward into the bathroom after tangling his feet up in them. Of course, he had to make another big scene and scream and yell and dance around. He then proceeded to kick one of the guilty shoes across the room and yell "Why are you trying to kill me?" I wanted to yell back "Why don/t you have a bigger bladder so you don't have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom?" I just pulled the covers over my head and said nothing. That morning when we met in the kitchen for coffee, he looked at me with a very serious look on his face, and said "Angela one day you are going to kill me! You are going to kill me!!" When he says my name, I know he is serious. Uh-oh!!

I was relaying this information to Kim, my partner-in-crime at school. I was hoping for some vindication and support from her. But she looked at me with a not so supportive glare, pulled her pants leg up, pointed to a 3-inch scar on her shin, and said "I understand exactly where Fred is coming from!" I had forgotten that I had left the bottom drawer of a metal filing cabinet by her desk open one day. She got up from her chair and ran right into that thing making a gash on her leg that really looked like it needed stitches. She jumped around and made a big scene too. Why does everyone around me have to make big scenes? Hmmmm.........

Now on to the recipe. I was so so excited when The Game chose Paula's Basic Meatloaf. Oh how I love meatloaf. It is my go to comfort food. I really love it the next day served on two pieces of bread and some mayo. Yes Food Police - MAYO!! I have tried many different recipes for meatloaf including my Mama's, but this is by far my favorite. Sorry Mama.

You will need ground beef (I used Lean), ketchup or catsup. oatmeal, onion, green bell pepper, an egg, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper, and brown sugar. Sounds good so far!!

Combine everything but the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. My mouth is watering.

Mix your topping together.

Shape the meat into a loaf in a loaf pan (Please excuse the well-worn look of mine) and spread the topping over the loaf. Bake for one hour at 375 degrees.

Serve with yummy garden vegetables and you will be one happy camper.

Here is the recipe..........

Basic Meat Loaf

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

1 pound ground beef

1/2 C chopped onion

1/2 C chopped green bell pepper

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 C canned diced tomatoes, with juice

1/2 C quick cooking oats

11/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Topping:

1/2 C ketchup

2 Tbs light brown sugar

1 Tbs yellow mustard

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine th ebeef, onion, bell pepper, egg, tomatoes, oats, salt and black pepper. Place the mixture in a loaf pan.

In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard. Spread over the loaf and bake for one hour.

Now go have a great day..............

Aunt Susie, Wasps, and Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible's Zucchini Bread

2012-08-18T15:58:00.000-05:00

I must do better with writing my posts. I must....I must.....I must....I have always been a procrastinator.  My use of the art of procrastination started in college, and I still employ that habit. Speaking of school, it starts Monday (oh my). This will be my 20th year in the classroom, and I am giving myself a pat on the back. That truly is an accomplishment that I am proud of. But on with the story......

You have read about my Aunt Susie in previous blog posts. She is my mother's sister and is only seven years older than me. She is more like a sister to me, and I love her dearly. She is a character that, honestly, I could base a novel on. She is fun, quirky, sarcastic, loud, loving, hilarious, and the list could go on forever. I will definitely have to do several posts on her because there is so much story here.

Susie is deathly allergic to wasps. She has a true phobia of wasps. I actually did some research to see if this was a real phobia and guess what?? It is!! It is called spheksophobia. There you go!! You have learned something today. Susie's symptoms of spheksophobia include becoming extremely agitated when anything that looks like a wasp (even a sweet butterfly), buzzes like a wasp (a little fly), or acts like a wasp gets into her field of vision. She will attempt to flee, and I believe this makes her an even bigger target for angry wasps, who are far more likely to sting those who make a commotion. And, oh believe me, she makes a commotion.  She goes stark-raving MAD!! Every where you look at her house there are bottles of wasp spray. She will hardly go outside in the summer because she is so afraid of the Wasp Nation's conspiracy to sting her. I ask her why she doesn't just carry an EpiPen so if she does get stung, she can inject herself (We are both RN's). She said she was afraid of her heart exploding from the adrenalin. Hmmmm... Let me see if this is a true phobia. No there is no such thing as a phobia of an Epipen or your heart exploding.

Let me give you some examples of Susie's spheksophobia please. I recently had the pleasure of going to the Birmingham Zoo with Susie, her daughter (my first cousin) Roxanne, and Roxanne's three precious children - Daniel, David, and Ashley. The day was going well until it was time to ride the train. We all jumped into our seats waiting for the relaxing ride to begin, and the next thing I see is Susie throwing her head down into her hands. This was not a normal throw-down. It was such a dramatic and intense throw-down that I honestly thought she was experiencing a brain aneurysm (Remember I am an RN)!! I frantically asked her "Are you OK?" She shouted with head still in her hands, "No I am not OK!! There is a wasp right there, and if I look at it, it will fly over here and sting me in the eye!" I kid you not!! I shouted back "It will not sting you in the eye if you look at it! You are crazy!" She screamed back something unintelligible, the kids are looking like they are ready to run, and the train lurches to a start. Thank goodness. Somewhere mid-way through the ride, she finally took her head out of her hands. We headed home after that. Party over!

The second example of spheksophobia is the story of Susie driving down the road with her windows open probably singing at the top of her lungs and loving life. At some point in the drive, a wasp flies into the car. I kid you not people!! She literally throws the car door open, rolls out like a stunt woman, to escape the dreaded wasp. Thank goodness she was not hurt nor was the car or anyone else. I have no clue what happened to the wasp.

Finally, I had not heard this story before until we were recently discussing Susie's spheksophobia. I will just tell it plain and simple. These are her words. "I was out in a pasture that was up on a hilltop. I was petting this Shetland pony, and a wasp flew up. Let me tell you this!! I beat that Shetland pony back down the hill!" I got a mental picture of that. I will leave you with that image. There is no one like her in the world.

Now on to the recipe.   I am still cooking out of the great Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible!! The Eeny Game chose Zucchini Bread. Honestly, that sounded horrid to me, but I promised I would not cheat plus if it is a Paula Deen recipe it has to be good. I have never had a bad Paula Deen recipe. Period.

You will need zucchini, eggs, nuts ( I added these), cinnamon, vanilla, flour, and oil. The applesauce you see is replacing part of the vegetable oil. This is a trick Food Police taught me to cut some of the fat out of baked food. The formula is that you substitute half of the oil with applesauce. I left the sugar out of the picture. It is a major player!! Whoops!!

You get to grate the zucchini!! Watch your knuckles!! I used two zucchini to get a cup of grated.

Mix the zucchini, sugar, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla together.

Add the dry ingredients, mix, and put all the yumminess into a greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and 5 minutes, and you get this loveliness!!

I honestly did not think I would like zucchini bread but this was good. I never missed part of the oil. The bread was very moist, and I definitely will prepare this again. Here is the recipe.....

Zucchini Bread

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

1 C grated zucchini

1 C sugar

1/2 C vegetable oil ( I used 1/4 C applesauce and 1/4 C vegetable oil)

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour ( I used self-rising)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 C nuts (I added these)

Place a rack in the bottom third of th eoven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the zucchini, sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture just to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is goden brown, 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then pop the bread out of th epan and let cool completely on the rack before slicing and serving.

Now go have a great day....

Fourth of July and Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible's Real Deal Gumbo

2012-07-17T21:35:00.001-05:00

I love the Fourth of July for a number of reasons.  One is that it is right smack in the middle of the summer and gives you a reason to celebrate country, family, friends, and fireworks.   Second is that it gives you license to eat yummy food with the Food Police's blessing. This year we decided to celebrate at my Dad's pool with Husband Fred, Food Police, Son-in-Law, and Crazy Aunt Susie. You know it is a party if Crazy Aunt Susie is in attendance!! I must do a blog post on Susie!! She is something else.

Our menu was simple - Susie's wonderful ribs, crock pot pulled pork sandwiches and vinegar slaw from www.southernplate.com, potato salad, and Food Police's Healthy Corn Salad and Publix's Key Lime Pie. I am surprised she let us have Key Lime Pie. That is the best doggone pie I have ever had. If you have not had one, you must go get one right now.  They even have mango-key lime pie. I getting off subject. I must be hungry!

After gorging ourselves, we decided to head out to the pool. Now this family is competitive, and no gathering would be complete without a little sports action. I had purchased a pool volleyball set that had a bonus basketball goal. We got it situated, divided up into unfair teams of the young vs the old, and got the game started. Well.....can you say we should have hired an athletic trainer for this event to treat the injuries that occurred?? It reminded me of the movie - Meet the Parents - when they are all in the pool playing volleyball, the game gets heated, and Ben Stiller's character spiked the ball and broke the soon-to-be bride's nose!! Son-in-Law must have thought it would be oh so funny to spike the ball as well. He didn't count on spiking it right into my chest. For a split second, I thought I was in ventricular defibrillation. I couldn't catch my breath for a minute or so, but I recovered, gave him the old teacher evil eye, and said "OK Buddy!! Game on!" I get mad any time my team is losing. We were losing in dramatic fashion this day so at one point I got even madder when I couldn't hit a ball back and instead of throwing it lady-like back to the young ones, I proceeded to heave it across the net and hit Food Police right in the face!!  Needless to say, she thought I did it on purpose.  She started screaming "Concussion!", and I started screaming "Ventricular fibrillation!" Daddy started screaming "Stop yelling!! A nice preacher man lives behind me!" I asked "What does it matter if a preacher lives behind you Daddy?" He replied "I don't want him to think we are heatherns!" Really!! What would make him possibly think that??!! The game continued, and the oldies lost in a bad way!!

Then Son-in-Law had the grand idea to transform the volleyball net into a basketball goal. He wanted to play HORSE. Now his idea of HORSE is to jump off the diving board and shoot the ball or run along the side of the pool, jump, and dunk the ball in dramatic fashion. I said "Nope! I am out!! I know my limitations!!" Husband Fred, on the other hand, thought he could go toe-to-toe with a 29 year old ex-high school basketball star. I tried to talk him out of it by reasoning with him, but that only made him want to do it more. I thought to myself "This ought to be good!" Well, Husband Fred hung in there pretty well until the showboating started.  Son-in-Law made the shot where he started out of the pool, ran 3 or 4 steps, leaped, dunked, and landed gracefully in the water.   Husband Fred, of course, missed the shot and landed hard on his right leg in the pool while at the same time creating a tsunami. For a minute, I thought he had for sure broken his leg. He had this weird look on his face like the time he sat on the ceramic Christmas tree star in the attic and made a huge puncture hole in his buttocks, but that is another story for another day. I examined him and decided that he had aggravated his knee which he had already aggravated at Body Pump but that is another story too. He limped out of the pool, sat down, and asked for the Ibuprofen. Really???? I shook my head and headed up to the house to eat some Key Lime Pie.

Now on to the recipe...........I decided I would cook out of Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible. Can I say that this one fantastic cookbook?? Man oh man!! I still using the Eeny Meeny Miny Mo Game to select what I will cook. This time "it" chose The Real Deal Gumbo, and Paula is right!! It is the real deal. I have eaten a lot of wonderful gumbo in my day, and this recipe stands up against any of them.

Here she is in all her glory!! This picture looks a little small! Sorry I was messing around with my I-Phone and Instagram!!

You will need shrimp, smoked sausage, butter, garlic, onion, bell pepper, flour, okra, and chicken broth. I forgot to put the Cajun seasoning in the picture. Good grief.

Saute the okra for about 3 minutes to get rid of the slime! I hate okra slime!

While the okra is de-sliming, chop up a bell pepper, an onion, and 3 cloves of garlic.

You get to make a roux by mix cooking flour and butter. It takes about 5 minutes to get it this color.

First, you add the chopped onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the roux and cook for 2 minutes. Then you add the rest of the ingredients minus the shrimp, and cook for 20 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. I added a can of diced tomatoes at this point. She did not have this in her recipe but I have always had tomatoes in gumbo!

Add the shrimp for the last few minutes and simmer until they turn this pretty pink color.

Here is the finished product. I served it over rice, and it was delicious. This is going in the recipe rotation.

Now here's the recipe......

The Real Deal Gumbo

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

1 T vegetable oil

1 C chopped okra, fresh or thawed frozen

3 T butter

3 T all-purpose flour

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1 T chopped garlic

*I added a can of diced tomatoes.*

4 C chicken broth

3/4 pound smoked sausage, chopped ( I used Turkey sausage)

1 tsp Cajun Seasoning

Salt and black pepper

1 pound, large shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 C cooked rice, for serving

Hot sauce, for serving

In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
Add the okra and cook, stirring frequently until no longer slimy, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

In a large suacepan, met the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until it is a light chocolate color, about 5 minutes.

Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the okra, broth, sausage, and Cajun seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Add the shrimp and simmer until they are pink and cooked through. Serve over the rice. Pass hot sauce at the table.

Now go have a great day......

Where I Have Been and Calling All Cooks' Atlanta Pork Chops and Rice

2012-07-06T11:02:00.001-05:00

My goodness....I asked myself "Where have I been?" No really!! I am concerned!! My last post was May 5th. That is pitiful. I had to do some rewind on the old memory tape, and I realized where all I have been. The first place I had been was the ending of the school year. It is a massive undertaking to wind down a school year. Only those who are educators know what I am talking about. I won't go into the end of the year checklist that is two pages long where you have to run around the 1,000,000 square foot school looking for administrators to initial their line, or the textbook and equipment inventories, or the final posting of grades and completing the gradebook, or the cleaning out of the file cabinets and your desk, or the getting everything off the floor routine so they can perform the all-mighty waxing of the floors. It truly is an undertaking, and it takes a week to recover!!

The second place I had been was the beach for a week with Food Police, Son-in-Law, and Husband Fred. Now that was a pleasure except for the daily food fights with Food Police. Don't get me wrong - we do not have the traditional food fights where you actually have fun throwing food at one another. NO............ Our food fights consist of heated discussions of what we should and should not eat for cholesterol, blood pressure, and weight issues. Let me give you an example of exactly what I mean!! I made crab-stuffed shrimp one evening and wanted to pair it with a baked potato and salad. Does that sound good to you? Yes!! We even had fat free sour cream and dadgum fake spray butter to put on the potatoes plus fat free salad dressing. Honey it was a party with all the trans-fat, cholesterol, sodium, and taste not in attendance!! What can I say!!! Woo-Hoo!!! Then said party grinded to a screeching halt!! "No" says Food Police. "Let's do grilled yellow and zucchini squash instead of the potato. It will be healthier! We had a lot of carbs at lunch so we don't need the potato!!" What??? We are hungry!! Ugh!! The three of us tried to argue our side of things, but the She-Devil (whoops) Food Police won!! She has that way about her. That jaw stuck out, and you know she meant business. We all accepted the zucchini/yellow squash grill, but then I turned to my major passive-aggressive ways!! I ate one of Son-in-Law's Little Debbie's Oatmeal Cakes (by the way thank goodness for Son-in-Law!! I can always sneak some food from him. He somehow can overpower Food Police and get his way with snacks!! I must take a class from him!!) I continued my passive-aggressive ways and began to eat Cheetos straight out of the bag at midnight because I was starving. I got the Food Police death stare which can be rather frightening. I wonder if she can read minds!! On the positive side, we had no waterspouts this year that took our electricity away for 2 days - just sun, sea, family, and food fights.

The third place I had been was my student's National competition in Orlando, FL at Disney World. Kim and I took 18 students (adolescents - uh oh) on a charter bus. Enough said!! It actually was pretty stress-free. The students behaved very well except for getting in a boiled egg fight, one team over-sleeping on a competition day, and holding up the bus on the way home because three of them got diarrhea from eating too much cheese dip at a restaurant in Valdosta, Ga . Horrors!! We had a 6th, 11th and top 25 in the nation. I cannot complain!! The excitement came when Kim and I rode the horrid Jedi - Mount Everest something something roller coaster in Animal Kingdom. Now before I continue, let me tell you something about myself. When I was younger, I put on my Bucket List to ride every major roller coaster in the US of A. That was in the prehistoric age when the coasters weren't as high as the stratosphere, and didn't do all the horrible things they do now!! I have ridden a standing coaster that goes upside down, a coaster that suspends you like you are flying, and the wooden coaster at Six Flags that feels like it is going to jump off the tracks!! I just wanted you to know that I am not a scaredy cat when it comes to coasters. On to the story....We load up all giddy with excitement. I checked my harness one thousand times to make sure it is locked and settled in for the ride. We literally take off from 0-100 mph in 5 seconds, and then the darn Jedi coaster grinded to a halt half-way up the tracks pitching us forward and backward hard enough to give us whiplash in the blazing heat index of 100 degrees. Kim began screaming at the top of her lungs something about it being stuck on the tracks. I look at her and try to talk her down from her fever pitched hysteria. I said something like "Oh just pretend we are at the beach lying in the sun soaking up some rays!" She looked at me like I was growing horns out of my head and continued to scream. She was frightening the 4-year old behind us!! Yep!! Then I start getting worked up because I feel like I am on fire. You know how I hate the heat, and I thought this is how I am going to die - like a vampire in the sunshine pitched at 90 degrees on a roller coaster!!! Somebody help us!! Honestly, it was stopped for about 5 seconds, but she and I can be a little dramatic at times. You think?? We whoosh on, and then the stupid thing pretends to have a broken track. The next thing I know we are going backwards in the dark, and my old body didn't know which end was up!! It was the horror of horrors. I ended the ride feeling a lot dizzy, and thought I had had a stroke. I thought this is why they tell "older" people not to ride roller-coasters!! I did a quick neuro-check on myself and found that all was intact. I bolted off that thing and never looked back. I thought I will never ever get on a roller-coaster again!! I proceeded to ride Space Mountain and the Rocking Roller coaster. The new thing now on roller coasters is called a "Photo-Bomb!" You learn alot from hanging around the youngsters. A Photo-bomb is when you anticipate where the picture of you is taken on the ride, and you make some dumb gesture (only nice ones) or some weird looking face. Well......... and I wish I had a picture for you, Kim and I tried this out. I decided I would make the blank stare no emotion face. I saw this for real when long ago my family went with my friend Cathy's family to Six Flags. She hates roller coasters but said she had to ride them with her children. When I asked why she said "Well if the coaster jumps off the track I want to be there with them." I get it!! Anyway, we ride the coaster, and run to see our picture. It was hilarious. We are all screaming at the top of our lungs. Our faces are contorted into weird masks, and there is Cathy. She has absolutely no emotion on her face. Nothing. No grimace, smile, not even an eyebrow out of place. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. The only time I ever saw a face like that was during my psychiatric rotation during nursing school. She would not let us buy that picture. Well, that face is hard to do when you are trying, but Kim and I got it pretty good on Space Mountain. I felt like I had accomplished something. HAHA!

Enough of where I have been. Let's get to the recipe. This is the last recipe I am preparing out of the Calling All Cooks cookbook. I have yet to pick the next cookbook, but I think it might be one of Paula's. We shall see. The recipe is Atlanta Pork Chops and Rice, and it was delicious. I don't know what Atlanta has to do with it but hey who doesn't love Atlanta??

You will need Pork Chops, celery, tomato sauce, brown sugar, salt, dried basil, and rice.

Brown the chops in a little oil. That picture looks weird.

Remove the chops, and brown the chopped celery. I added some onion because the recipe called for tomato sauce with onions, but I could not find this at the old Publix.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pan.

Add the chops, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

I served it with a little broccoli on the side. Food Police gave it her blessing as long as the rice serving was 1/2 cup!! AGH!!

Here is the recipe.....

Atlanta Pork Chops and Rice

Calling All Cooks

4 pork chops

2 T vegetable oil

1/4 C chopped celery

2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce with onions

1 1/2 C water

2 T brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp basil

1 C uncooked regular rice

In large skillet brown chops in oil. Remove and add celery. Cook lightly. Drain fat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Add chops. Bring to a boil. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Now go have a great day................ 

Field Trips and Calling All Cooks' Impossible Taco Pie

2012-05-05T11:57:00.000-05:00

Let's talk about field trips. They are just one of the various things that a teacher gets to experience with her students. Over the past 20 years, I have gone on many a field trip. I have been to Chicago, Anaheim, Atlanta, Orlando, Nashville, Mobile, Cleveland, and countless other small cities and towns with my students. The usual method of travel is the good old school bus or as the students so affectionately call it Ol' Yeller or the Cheese Wagon. Now if you have not ridden on a school bus in awhile, then you may have forgotten that they are not the most comfortable form of travel.  The big controversy about school buses is that they do not have seat belts so what they do to make up for this is wedge the seats so close together, you can't or won't move if a nuclear bomb went off in the bus. Because I am long-legged, this makes for a very uncomfortable ride. I have to sit up front so I can stretch my legs out into the aisle because if I don't I will not be able to unhinge my "stove-up" (Bigmama's expression) legs to get off the bus. My co-teacher - Kim- has motion sickness so she has to pop a Bonine and sit up front too where she can see the horizon. I remember her first ever field trip with me. We visited a college to tour their facility. We were walking around talking to all the professors, and I realized that she was nowhere to be found. I thought "Well great!! It is bad enough to have to keep up with the kids, but I didn't think she would get lost!" I turned a corner, and there she was sitting in the middle of the hall as green as a leprechaun, sweating, and had a cold cloth on her head. She told me she forgot to take her motion sickness pill. So now before every trip, I always ask "Did you take your Bonine?" Doesn't this sound like fun y'all??

So you get on the bus, and the first thing you have to do is count the heads. There can be 20-35 adolescent heads on any given trip. Horrors!! Think about that for a minute people!! You are probably shuddering right about now. As I begin my count, there is always the wise guy who wants to lie down in the seat so I miss him and have to start over. Or how about the smartie pants that as I am counting out loud says the wrong number so that I have to start over again!! Oh they are soooooo funny!! NOT!! I glare at them, proceed to wedge myself into the seat, Kim takes her Bonine, and we are off. And the fun begins. If you are leaving before sunrise, it is pretty quiet on the bus. But if you happen to leave at a normal time of day, the decibel level is about three million megahertz or whatever that unit of measurement is. Bits and pieces of conversation drift up to the front of the bus interspersed with "Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Holland!!!" If I hear my name once, I hear it 10,000 times.  I also to get to hear "I need to use the bathroom", "Are we going to stop and eat?", "Can we listen to the radio?" and the always fun "Are we there yet?" My shoulders start creeping up to my ears. Kim pretends she is asleep. AGH!!

There have been some interesting things that have happened on the bus. One time as we were loading up, I was climbing up the steps of the bus and fell flat on my face. Of course, it was not "Oh are you okay Mrs. Holland?" or "Let me help you up Mrs. Holland!" It was total silence coupled with a look of disgust in their eyes. I think I embarassed them. I embarassed myself. There is nothing like falling down in front of a bunch of teenagers. My shoulders were in line with my nose, and my knee was throbbing but hey, all is good!!!! It is GO time!!!

Then there was the time there was a lot of laughter coming from the back of the bus. My little inner voice told me to go check and see what was going on!! I will never ever forget what I found. One little imp had made a sign out of notebook paper that said "Honk if you are h****y!!" Oh yes my friends!! I had wondered why all the trucks had been honking as they raced by. I naively had thought it was because the kids were doing that dumb game where you do the old thing with your arm bent to make them honk!! NO that was not it. When I saw what was going on, I moved so fast I walked out of my shoes and grabbed that sign and ripped it up to a million pieces in front of him. I wanted to grab him by the ear and drag him up to the front but I just gave him the old Holland glare, pointed my finger towards the front, and made him come sit with me for the rest of the trip home. That is a fate worse than death for a teenager - having to sit by your teacher on the bus!! HAHAHAHA!! My shoulders were up to my eyeballs!

Another time I was sitting toward the middle of the bus talking with some students, and all of a sudden, I felt something alive and warm wrap around my leg. All I could think about was that horrid movie "Snakes on a Plane", and thought to myself could it be "Snakes on a Bus???" I have a vivid imagination. I screamed like I was being mauled by a tiger and realized it wasn't an ananconda. It was one of my students. She had managed to crawl from the front of the bus under all the seats so that she could scare me. Are you kidding me?? My shoulders were up to my hairline at this point.

I could write a novel on this topic. I won't even go into the time we had stopped at a mall to eat, and it was Kim's birthday. The kids surprised her on the bus with a gift. She unwrapped it with excitement in her eyes, and then holds up the gift - a pair of thong underwear. Oh they think they are so funny!! She was mortified. Or how about the time we had the "older" bus driver who drove 50 mph on the interstate and what should have been a field trip that ended at 6:00 pm turned into one that had us pulling into the school parking lot at 11:00 pm. My shoulders were over my head on this one.

Please pray for Kim and me. In June, we are going to Disney World on a bus with 22 teenagers. It is a 13-14 hour ride one way y'all. My shoulders will be on top of the bus. Anyway, enough about field trips. Let's get on to the recipe. It is Cinco de Mayo Day!! I had to look up what that was!! I thought it was an excuse to eat Mexican food which happens to be my favorite food of all time. I am supposed to eat dinner with Food Police and Son-in-Law tonight to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I thought "Yay we will get to go eat at the Mexican restaurant close to their house!" But no, she informed me that she was going to cook some Food Police Mexican food. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? SHE IS MAKING A HEALTHY GUACOMOLE WITH ZUCCHINI SQUASH!!!   Never in my life have I heard of such!!! Luckily, the Eeny Game chose a good recipe for this day. I did not cheat. If you will notice, the pictures were taken in March!! So HA, all you doubters!! It is Impossible Taco Pie, and I am still cooking out of the Calling all Cooks cookbook.

You will need Bisquick, Cheddar cheese, ground beef, milk, taco seasoning, onion, eggs and a can of green chilies.

Brown the meat and onions!

Stir in the taco seasoning mix!

Layer the seasoned meat in a 10 inch pie plate, and top with chilies.

Top that with the baking mix, milk and egg mixture. Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees and then add the cheese, and bake 10 more minutes.

Beautiful!!

I topped it with sour cream and jalapeno peppers. I wish I had some black olives, green onions, and fresh tomatoes. It was delicious and so easy!!

Here is your recipe.........

Impossible Taco Pie

Calling All Cooks

1 lb ground beef

1/2 C chopped onion

1 package of taco seasoning mix

1 (4 oz) can of chopped green chilies, drained

1 1/4 C Milk

3/4 C Bixquick

3 eggs

2 tomatoes, sliced ( I forgot these)

1 C shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 10 inch pie plate. Cook ground beef and onion until brown; drain. Stir in seasoning mix. Spread in plate and top with chilies. Beat milk, Bisquick and eggs until smooth. Pour into pie plate; bake 25 minutes. Top with tomatoes and cheese; bake until knife inserted comes out clean, 8-10 minutes longer. Cool 5 minutes. Serve with the usual taco toppings. Makes 6- 8 servings.

Now go have a great day!!!......

Riding in the Car with an "Older" Adult Parent and Calling All Cooks' Orange Juicy Muffins

2012-04-21T11:57:00.005-05:00

My apologies for not being in the blogosphere!! For some reason, this time of the year is so so busy with school. Speaking of school, we just recently experienced the time-honored "Spring Break". I decided I would invite my Dad to go out to lunch one day. Of course, he wanted to drive. Now let me preface this with he is almost 80, and you know where I am going with this. Lately, when I have ridden with him, I get nervous. My stomach feels like it did when Food Police was learning to drive. Food Police had a lead foot, followed other cars too closely, ran up on people at the red light and slammed on her brakes, passed cars in an intersection, and never knew where she was going. I have nightmares still to this very day about being in the car with her. When I had to ride with her, I would break out into a cold sweat. I would get in the coffin ( I mean car) and immediately put my seat belt on extra tight, brace my legs, and put a death grip onto the door handle to open it quickly so I could easily throw myself out of the car to avoid death. I am not joking. It was horrid to ride with her. We finally got her a private driving instructor named Mr. Whatley who would pick her up at the house and take her driving for an hour. I stood in the driveway and waved happily good bye to them thanking the Good Lord that I was not in that car. I will never forget when I took her to get her Driver's license. They began her test by asking her to tap her brakes. She threw down on the gas pedal making the car sound like it was in the Daytona 500. I just looked down and shook my head. She ended up passing her test though, and today I must say she is a pretty good driver even though she recently hit a post at a gas station but we won't mention that.

Fast forward to today. Daddy picks me up, and I immediately belted myself into the coffin (Whoops I did it again!), and we were off!! We decided we would go to Greenbrier Restaurant. Now if you are not familiar with Greenbrier, you must have a little history. It serves wonderful BBQ, fried catfish, and hush puppies. It has been around forever, and
Daddy had always enjoyed going there. There are two restaurants that share the Greenbrier name. They are located within a mile of each other. There is the old one which moved to a new building, and there is the new one that went to the old one's building. Are you following this? Good grief!! So we are talking about all this, and suddenly Daddy slammed on his brakes in the middle of the road about sending me through the windshield. We are not at a stop light or sign just stopped in the middle of the road. I said in a raised tone "Why are you stopping?" He answered "I thought that car was going to pull out in front of me!" I thought "Oh no now!" He did this about 2 more times. Food Police never did this. I told him in a very calm tone that this was not good to do because we could be rear-ended, and that the people are not going to pull out in front of him. We settle back in, and then the Horror of Horrors began. We exited the Interstate, and he asked "Which way do I go?" I said "Well, do you want to go to the new Greenbrier or the old Greenbrier?" I think that confused him because the next thing I know we are heading down the onramp to get back on the Interstate. I said "Where are you going?" He said "Oh I should have turned right!" I told him that was OK, and that we could get back on the Interstate, take the next exit, turn around, and try it again. He uttered the proverbial words "No that is too far, and I am hungry!" We are talking maybe 3 miles People. He hit the brakes, and proceeded to throw the car into reverse and back it up the onramp. I think I might have fainted for a moment because the next thing I know, we are on the original road headed DOWN THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! I have come to my senses, and not so very calmly screech "What are you doing?" He turned and looked at me and said "Oh don't worry! There is no one coming, and I will just turn left, and we will be there!" Well when he turns left, he is now again ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! I have about lost my breakfast at this point! I am sweating and red in the face thinking I am about to have a stroke. I think should I call someone like the police or 911. What is going on? I take a deep breath and tell him to cross the median. He seemed to agree with this decision and put the car up on the little raised median. I am breathing easier but then he stomped the brakes and uttered "Oh no!! I am not going to scrape my undercarriage!" I thought who gives a rip about the undercarriage. I am trying to save my undercarriage. He stopped, and y'all I am not even joking, started to BACK UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. I have lost it at this point. I looked up from my head-down position and saw a Harley-Davidson motorcycle going the right way coming directly at us. I began to say my prayers, and thankfully the Good Lord helped us because the motorcycle man saw us. All Daddy could say was "Why is that fool staring at us?" I could not answer because I had lost my capacity to speak. Maybe I had had a stroke. I was able to think though. I thought to myself "Do you think maybe he is staring at us because he sees two fools who are backing up on the wrong side of the road?" Deliver me from this evil!!! Finally some how some way, we get going the right way on the right side of the road and arrive at the Old New Greenbrier or whatever the heck it is! Husband Fred has joined us, and we pulled up beside him. He looked at me in a weird manner. I know I looked like something from a Zombie movie - the Walking Dead. I did the sign of the cross on my chest and mouthed "I will explain later!" He nodded, and I knew he understood. I don't even remember lunch or the ride home. It must have been uneventful. When I got home, I had a migraine (Wonder why??) and laid down for the rest of the day with a cold cloth to my head in a dark room with the blinds pulled. I have now experienced a Teen driver and a Senior driver in my life. I believe I prefer the Teen driver. I will keep you posted.

Now on to the recipe. I am still cooking out of the Calling all Cooks cookbook. The Game chose Orange Juicy Muffins, and they are so good. So let's get cooking.

You will need Bisquick, eggs, oranges, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

The honey is there because the recipe recommends serving honey with the muffins.

Mix all the ingredients together minus the spices, and place in muffin cups.

Mix 2 of the tablespoons of sugar and spices together, and sprinkle each muffin with a 1/2 tsp of this mixture, and bake.

Enjoy!!! Food Police did a Food Police calculation on these and determined them to be healthy at about 100 calories per muffin. So I ate two! They are oh so good.

I was at Food Police's house when I was baking these, and she wanted me to show you her Easter Tablescape. I thought she did a fantastic job!! Yay for Food Police.

Here is the recipe............

Orange Juicy Muffins

Calling All Cooks

2 C Bisquick

2 Tbs sugar

1 egg

1 tsp grated orange peel

2/3 C orange juice (I used the fresh squeezed from the orange I zested)

Another 2 Tbs sugar for the topping

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place muffin cups into muffin tin. Mix Bisquick, 2 tbs sugar, egg, orange peel and juice; beat vigorously 30 seconds. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Mix 2 tbs sugar and spices together and sprinkle each muffin with about 1/2 tsp of the sugar mixture. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve with honey. Makes 12 muffins.

Now go enjoy the day!!!!!!!!!!

What I Have Been Doing Instead of My Blog and Calling all Cooks' Yummy Carrot Salad

2012-03-27T11:07:00.002-05:00

My goodness!! I thought that when Food Police finally "launched", I would have so much more time in my day. Ummmmm NO!! Add three pets, a husband who starts a new business and works 7 days a week to my demanding job, you get less time in the day than ever. I would sit down to write my blog and something would pull me away from the computer. Let's start with Holland the Wonder Dog and his ACL surgery. He was supposed to be on house arrest for three weeks. We made it for a week and a half. That week and a half was eventful to put it mildly. He developed intestinal upset on more than one occasion from his antibiotic regimen . Because this is a food blog, I am not going to go into details. However, I will say that I have now classified this event as a "Horror of Horrors". We literally begged the vet from our knees to let him go back outside where he honestly belongs. He allowed Husband Fred to make an outside "Compound" for him that confined his movement. (not Husband Fred's movement but Holland the Wonder Dog's!!!) Finally last week, he was able to come off bedrest and could roam freely in his kingdom that is the backyard. Mercy!! Now I remember why I am beginning to lean toward preferring the feline!!

The other waking hours have been spent at school or taking down Christmas decorations. Oh yes!! We are approaching April, and they are still not all down. This has become extremely embarassing to the family name and the event may have to be classified as a "Horror of Horrors"! I have two crepe myrtle trees that still have lights in them, and those are coming down today!! I have reindeer and a Christmas mailbox on the carport. Throw in one thousand extension cords that trip me everytime they can, and I have had enough. I spent one day putting up my inside Snow Village town. I hate those little people in March!! They look so happy and smug with their Christmas presents, poinsettias, and their cars packed headed on a little vacation. There is snow on the ground in their world. They are having fun snow skiing and ice skating, and I am sweating from the most recent "internal summer" and the fact that we are having summer temperatures in March! Finally, they are all tucked in their boxes with visions of sugar plums dancing in their little miniature people's heads.

Finally, I must also add that I was in a period of mourning after Peyton Manning did not choose my Titans as his team. I could barely get out of bed to go to work much less write my blog. That is all I am going to say about that!!

Now on to the recipe. I chose Calling all Cooks as my next cookbook! This cookbook was written by the Alabama Chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America. I have no idea what a telephone pioneer is!!! Anyway, they write a great cookbook. I was told by a friend that every new bride needs this cookbook. I see why! The Eeny Meeny Game chose Yummy Carrot Salad for the first recipe. I love Chic-Fil-A's Carrot Salad but Food Police never lets me order it because she said there is a lot of mayonnaise in it. Food Police is NO fun!! Blah!!

It is one of those cookbooks that you can tell was done on a typewriter!!

You will need carrots, crushed pineapple, mayo, raisins and sugar!!

Grate your carrots until they look like this. Watch your fingers!!

Add the rest of the ingredients!

Mix it all together and put in the refrigerator.

I had Friend-in-Law and Food Police over for lunch. I copied the concept of a "Quad Salad" from one of my favorite restaurants here in town called Cyn Shea's. I made a Chicken Salad, the Carrot Salad, a Pasta Broccoli Slaw Salad, and a Mandarin Orange salad. It was so good. You could do a thousand different variations of this idea.

The Carrot Salad was delicious and tasted I believe better than Chic-Fil-A's. Plus I made it with low-fat mayo. If I had had Splenda, I would have subbed that for the sugar, and it would have been even more healthy!! It would work real well for Easter Lunch too. Yum!!

Here is the recipe....

Yummy Carrot Salad

Calling All Cooks

4-5 large carrots, scraped and washed

1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained

4 T sugar

1/2 C raisins

1/3 C mayonnaise - I used Low Fat

Use fine grater and grate carrots. Put into bowl and add the sugar, pineapple, raisins and mayonnaise; toss well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Bananas and apples may be added as well.

Now go have a great day......

A Hodge Podge and Hungry Girl's Breakfast Goodies

2012-03-04T17:02:00.001-06:00

I thought I would bring you up to speed on a few things going on in the Eeny Meeny Miny Mo Cook's world. First, Holland the Wonder Dog had his ACL surgery Thursday, and he is now home. When I say home, I mean recovering in the house for 3 weeks. This is not a little dog, and this is not an inside dog. This is a 50 pound furry dog with a big bandage on his leg. Can I just tell you that this has messed up the felines' world. They are beside themselves. They look at Holland the Wonder Dog like he is some alien intruder, arch their back, hiss and run off and hide. Actually everyone is in an uproar. We had to turn the thermostat down in the house to 60 degrees because Holland the Wonder Dog is burning up inside. We have to remember to take him outside to use the bathroom. We had to fix up the laundry room as his dorm room. We have to remember to put the cat food up because he eats it in one big gobble, and the felines get irritable when they cannot eat on demand. Oh my goodness but it is okay. We love Holland the Wonder Dog. Excuse me while I take him outside.

I am back. The second thing that I have been doing this weekend, besides being a Dog Nurse, is taking down the Christmas lights. You heard right. I am taking down the Christmas lights. Do you know how embarassing it is to be doing this in March? The last time we were late was the year we went to London after Christmas and contracted the most horrible flu known to man. We were sick as dogs. So it was February before we even thought about the lights. When we finally got to it, Husband Fred was in the attic putting up the last few strands when I heard the most deafening crash in the world. I looked up and saw his legs dangling down into the kitchen. Somehow he had managed to step off the attic beam and through the kitchen ceiling. He let out the most guttural scream I have ever heard, and I really thought that he was hurt badly. I knew I could not climb up those rickety stairs into the attic to check on him because I am deathly afraid of that attic. One time he was up there and threw a fake rat down at me and that was all it took. I told him I was never going up in that horrid place. I asked him if I needed to call 911. He responded no and said very gingerly that he just needed to sit there for a moment because he was lightheaded and about to pass out from straddling the beam. Oh my goodness!! So from that experience, we made a promise that we would never wait that long to take down the lights again. Hmmm...Fast forward to the present. Every person that walked or drove or rode their bicycles by the house today looked at us with disdain and disgust and pity. They tried to say cute things like "Oh you must be getting a headstart on the lights this year!" I answer back through gritted teeth "No fool we are just trying to get them down before Easter!" I really don't say fool but I am thinking that. Then to make matters worse, Husband Fred has the audacity to ask me if I can possibly remember what order I strung the lights. He said "It sure would make my job of getting them off the trees and shrubs a lot easier and quicker if you could remember the order you put them up in!" I answered back sarcastically through gritted teeth "No fool I don't remember the order. I put up over 50,000 lights on 7 trees and 20 plus shrubs last October and November . Let me stand here and think a minute and MAYBE I can recall this information!" I stood there for one second and went (actually stomped) back in the house before I said something unkind. Holland the Wonder Dog got mad too and followed me into the house.

Now on to the recipe. I am still cooking out of Lisa Lillien's Hungry Girl Cookbook. The Game picked a breakfast recipe. I love breakfast. I believe it is my favorite meal. I love to eat breakfast for dinner. That makes me happy. I decided I would do 2 breakfast recipes since I had to buy a carton of those "fake" eggs, and I didn't want to waste them. So here we go.

For the first recipe which is called "Yumtastic Breakfast Burrito", you will need the low calorie flour tortillas, turkey bacon, fat free Singles and the liquid egg substitute. Publix calls it "Eggstirs".

Cook the turkey bacon. I hate to say it but this stuff looks so fake. Who likes fake bacon??? Food Police and Hungry Girl. I will be honest. It is not too bad but it sure doesn't taste like that Applewood smoked slab bacon!!

Spritz your pan with cooking spray and scramble the egg substitute over medium heat.

Tear your cheese slice in half and lay it on your warmed tortilla.

Place the eggs on top of the cheese.

Put the fake -whoops- turkey bacon on top of the eggs.

Roll it up and cut in two. I must say it was rather good and only 239 calories.

For the second recipe which is called "Eggamuffin 101", you will need English muffins, the liquid egg substitute, Canadian bacon and the cheese singles.

Place your cheese on the toasted English muffin.

Then add the Canadian bacon that you first microwave.

Add the cooked egg. I love jalapenos so I added that too. This tasted as good or better than a McDonald's Egg McMuffin, and it is only 184 calories.

Here are the recipes......

Eggamuffin 101

Hungry Girl

Lisa Lillien

1 light English muffin

1 slice Canadian Bacon

1 slice fat-free American cheese

1/2 c fat-free liquid egg substitute

Toast English muffin. Cook egg substitute over medium-high heat in a pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Place cheese on the bottom half of the muffine, followed by the egg, ham, and then the other muffin top.

Yumtastic Breakfast Burrito

Hungry Girl

Lisa Lillien

1 low-fat flour tortilla about 110 calories

2 slices turkey bacon

1/2 c fat-free liquid egg substitute

1 slice American fat-free cheese

Cook bacon according to directions. Pour egg substitute into a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and scramble over medium heat. Heat tortilla in the microwave until warm. Place cheese in the center of the tortilla. Top with eggs and bacon. Roll the tortilla up and then heat in the microwave for an addition 15 to 20 seconds.

Now go have a great day................

My Pets and Hungry Girl's Veggie Tuna Wrap Explosion

2012-02-26T16:37:00.004-06:00

I love animals. Can I say it again? I have loved animals since I was a little girl. I have always had an animal in my life. I am the nut that has a Christmas stocking for each of the animals. I am that nut that when I hear that horrible Sarah McLachlan song - "I Will Remember You" - come on the TV, I get hysterical. It is the one that is coupled with pictures of abused animals who, of course, are missing an eye or have a little cast on their leg. I about kill myself getting to the remote to change the channel. One time I made myself watch it, and I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I was crying, snorting and had to go lie down for a short while with a cold cloth to my head. Same thing when I hear the news reporter say "We now have a story about animal abuse, and you might want to shield your small children from the TV!" I am not a small child, but I still need to be shielded. I scream out to whoever is sitting on the couch with me to change the channel stat!! FYI: Stat is medical terminology for right now...immediately...quick..!! I love using that word!! I digress!! Just today, I saw a public service announcement for shelter animals. It was a cartoon depiction of two little shelter kittens, and they were sitting there saying "Pick me! Pick me!!" to the people going by. Then the lights go out, and the one says to the other "The shelter is closing for today, but tomorrow will be a new day, and someone will pick us!!" I screamed at the TV that I would pick them. Husband Fred looked up from the Sunday paper and scowled at me. He had two reasons to scowl. One is that that those kittens were cartoons. They are not real. I know that!! The second reason I got the old Husband Fred scowl is that we currently have three rescue animals in our household. That does not count the two that Food Police and Son-in-Law have.

Please let me introduce you to them. First is our precious tuxedo cat Micky or Mick Mick. He was neglected by some not too smart person ( idiot) who let his flea collar grow into his neck. He thinks he is a dog and follows Husband Fred around the yard. He has a very large vocabulary.

This is Mickey basking in the sun.

Second is Holland the Wonder Dog! He is a mix between a Red Heeler and a Welsh Corgi. Husband Fred found him at a convenience store. He had been dumped there and was underweight, had mange, a blood infection, and a very very bad overbite. His mouth looks like a shark's mouth. Husband Fred called the Humane Society to catch him because he could not coax him into the car. Long story short is that no one adopted him so guess what??? We took him. He has had health problem after health problem since but what a dog. He has had cancer. He has an auto-immune disorder where he could not open his mouth. He is now on steroids for life to correct that issue. Then for some reason, his fur quit growing. I took him to the vet, and he had low thyroid hormone levels. He will also have to take thyroid medicine for the rest of his life. The last big event which will now require surgery is that he tore his ACL doing who knows what in the back yard. What can you say?? His surgery is in a couple of weeks. I will be doing Doggie Rehab!!

Holland the Wonder Dog!! He is something else.

Next we have Possum the cat. Food Police named the poor thing that because he does sort of look like a possum. He also looks like he has a bad toupee. He, his Mama, and his two siblings were found under an abandoned house. We called a wonderful organization in town called Forgotten Felines, and they sent out Winnie the Wonder Trapper of all Cats that are Feral. She put some overalls on, loaded a humane trap with some stinky food, and proceeded to crawl up under the house and catch all four members of that feline family. Of course, they ended up at my house scared to death. "Now what do we do with them?" I screeched. Well.....................we kept Possum, Husband Fred took Mama to his radio station, and Food Police took the other two. They are some of the sweetest cats I know. I think they are grateful.

Possum or Pos as we like to call him with the bad toupee!!!

Food Police and Son-in-Law's babies - My Grandcats!! Fuzz and June

Mama Kitty - Tiki - named for Husband Fred's Radio Station WTKI!! Clever huh??

So there you have it. You have been introduced to all the wonderful animals in my life. Now on to the recipe. I am still hungry and still cooking out of Hungry Girl's cookbook. The game chose Veggie Tuna Wrap Explosion, and I was mad. I was steamed. I wanted something like Steak Fajita Wrap Explosion or Fried Chicken Explosion or Lasagna Explosion. You get the picture. But I dutifully prepared it, and it was really really good.

You will need flour tortillas, tuna, broccoli coleslaw, dill pickles, red onion, tomatoes, fat free mayo, and Dijonnaise.

Combine the tuna, mayo, and Dijonnaise. Add pickle, onions, and slaw and mix well.

This is it all mixed together. This photo should win an award.

Place the tuna mixture on a warmed tortilla and add the tomatoes.

I rolled it up like a burrito, added some broccoli coleslaw and Sunchips to the side, and enjoyed every bite of it. The total calorie count of the wrap is 215 calories.

Here is the recipe............

Veggie Tuna Wrap Explosion

Hungry Girl

Lisa Lillien

1 medium low-fat flour tortilla about 110 calories

2 ounces canned tuna packed in water

2 Tbs broccoli coleslaw

1 Tbs chopped dill pickle

1 Tbs chopped red onion

2 small tomato slices

1 Tbs fat-free Mayo

2 tsps Dijonnaise (I used Dijon Mustard)

Microwave tortilla until warm and set aside.

Combine tuna, mayo and Dijonnaise. Add pickle, onions, and slaw. Mix well.

Place tuna mixture in the center of the tortilla. Add tomato slices, then fold in sides and roll it up. Enjoy!!

Makes 1 serving!!

Now go have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!

Body Pump Update and Hungry Girl's V10 Soup

2012-02-20T15:58:00.001-06:00

Oh goodness!!  I decided I would cook out of the cookbook by Lisa Lillien titled Hungry Girl for the next little bit.   This cookbook is not written for a real hungry girl like me. It is written for someone who is really hungry and starving to death and could eat the paint off the wall because they are on a diet!! I think the politically correct term for diet is now lifestyle modification or healthy eating plan. Blah!!! Guess who gave me this cookbook?? If you guessed Food Police, you are right. Speaking of Food Police, have you noticed how the National Media must be reading my blog because they have stolen my coined phrase - Food Police??? There have been countless national stories about the Food Police and how they are snatching little kids' food right out of their lunchboxes because the little kid had -Heaven Forbid - some Cheetos or Oreo Cookies for lunch. What is this world coming to?  I wonder what my Food Police will pack in her children's lunch boxes. Oh I cannot wait to share those stories. I digress as usual.

Anyway, the author of this cookbook - Lisa - has a Food Network show where she shows you how to eat well for less calories. She also has a wonderful web site - www.hungry-girl.com- where you can sign up for daily e-mail tips on how to eat right. And I must say, after cooking and tasting a few recipes out of her cookbook, I am a new fan.

After I selected this cookbook, I thought this would be an opportune time to give you an update on my exercise and eating regimen here lately. I made it through the Holidays without too much of a stumble and have now lost a little over 20 pounds. I am still going to my lovely Body Pump class twice a week. I reread my original blog post about Body Pump (which has been my most popular post), and I must say, I believe I was a little angry when I was writing that. It is dripping with sarcasm!!  Just so you know, though, I still don't clap for the show-outs in class. I still glare at them through the sweat dripping off my brow and give them my fake smile. Oh if only they could read my mind!!

Husband Fred has now joined the ranks of the Monday/Wednesday afternoon Body Pump Posse. Of course, I had to do some arm twisting and begging to get him there. Food Police pulled out the old "You are going to get Diabetes and Heart Disease" threat out of her little dietician's bag of tricks.  Goodness!! It has been worth it though. She and I so enjoy watching his weird contorted faces in the mirrors (Did I tell you they have mirrors in this torture chamber? There is nothing attractive about your face when you are lifting weights). Oh and how we love listening during class to his guttural grunting that is so loud you can hear it over the 5000 decibel song track. I think he does it for attention to make you think he is really pumping a lot of iron. I look at his weights to see how much he has added to his bar and do a double-take.  Oh my!!! Wait a minute.....Wait for it....Here it comes...... Food Police and I are lifting more weight than he is!!!!!! Give me strength!!! Do we make even one little sound? NO!!! Let me keep going!!!!   How about when we finish our Planks, he falls into the prone position and lies there for what seems like an eternity. People just step over him to put up their weights and mats. I reassure everyone that he is okay and not blown out his vertebrae.  I then whisper to them that he tends to have a Drama Queen side!!   They nod their heads up and down quite vigorously like they know exactly what I am talking about. I see where Food Police gets her flair for the dramatic. Again, I digress. I tell him to get up and quit embarassing himself and his family. Finally, he manages to pull himself to his knees and come to a standing position ready for more. Why does this bring such a smile to our faces?? I just thought of something. Maybe that is why all the veteran Body Pump people are smiling. It is not because they are actually enjoying the class, but they are actually delighting in watching the newbies get put through the ringer. Hmmmm.....

Now on to the recipe....I thought why did the Eeny Game have to choose this one??? I don't really want 60 calorie vegetable soup, but maybe the Game was trying to tell me something!! You think!!

Here is a picture of the cookbook. That lady on the front looks hungry to me! She must be delirious from low blood sugar because that would be the only reason why she would be smiling like that. Sorry!! I am hungry right now!! I want a hamburger and French fries.

Shout out to my vegetarian friends!! You are going to love this one. You will need a bunch of ingredients but look at how healthy all that looks!! You need 10 veggies - tomatoes, zucchini, onions, celery, carrots, bean sprouts, cabbage, asparagus, green beans and mushrooms. Plus you will use garlic, vegetable broth, tomato paste, basil, oregano and parsley. You will also need salt and pepper.

Look at the rainbow!! Chop up the tomatoes, onion, carrots and asparagus.

Spray your pot with cooking spray and saute the tomatoes, garlic, asparagus, and carrots for about 5 minutes.

While this is cooking, chop up your cabbage.

Chop the mushrooms.

Keep chopping......Now the zucchini.

Keep going.....The celery!!

Measure out a cup of bean sprouts.

Add all the ingredients and cook for 20 minutes. You will have this wonderful looking soup when you are finished!

I ate lunch with Food Police today and brought her some of the soup. She was in Dietician Heaven eating it. A generous cup of this tasty concoction is only 60 calories and is low in sodium, fat and sugars. I have to say it really is good. Hmmmm.....

Here is the recipe...

V10 Soup

Hungry Girl Cookbook

Lisa Lillien

4 C fat-free vegetable broth

2 C chopped cabbage

1 1/4 C chopped celery

1 C chopped mushrooms

1 C bean sprouts

2/3 C frozen green beans ( I used canned)

1 medium zucchini, diced

2 plum tomatoes, diced

3/4 C sliced carrots

1/2 C diced onions

5 asparagus spears, chopped

1 1/2 Tbs tomato paste

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Spray a large pot with nonstick spray. Cook tomatoes, carrots, onions, asparagus and garlic over low heat for about 5 minutes.

Raise heat to high, add all other ingredients, and stir. Once soup reaches a full boil. lower the heat until soup is just dimmering.

Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the beans and celery are tender.

Makes 6 servings.

Now go have a great day.....

My Worst Day as a Teacher and Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen's Crescent Cookies

2012-02-12T12:41:00.003-06:00

As many of you know, I have been teaching a High School Medical class for almost 20 years. I have honestly had only a few really bad days as a teacher. Most of my days can be defined as good, productive, satisfying, uplifting, etc. The bad days usually revolve around something not working like a piece of equipment, the Internet being down and I can't access that awesome video, I forgot to run off something for the class, and on rare occasions, a discipline or behavioral issue. That sounded harsh didn't it? How about someone was acting up in class!! That sounds better.

Let's roll back the calendar to a couple of weeks ago. I was imparting all my vast knowledge about the autoclave and sterilization to the inquisitive young minds of my students. As a part of the lesson, we talk about chemical disinfection and ultrasonic cleaning. I had purchased an ultrasonic cleaner to show them how that worked. While I was discussing this, I uttered the fateful statement "This is also what they use to clean jewelry! Does anyone want me to clean your rings while I clean this set of dentures?" By the way, so you are not grossed out, they were not my dentures!! HAHA!!! A couple of hands went up, and I had them drop their rings into the cleaner along with my wedding ring. I proceeded to read the directions and turn the thing on for 20 minutes just like it said to do. When the 20 minutes was up, I took off the top and peered in. And there it was - the evidence of my most horrible day as a teacher. That despicable horrid little machine turned the silver class ring of one of my students BLACK!!! Thank goodness my back was to the students so that they could not see all the blood drain from my face. I grabbed the ring out of the water, and immediately my hand turned black. This day was getting worse by the minute. I start running it under water and rubbing it with a paper towel. I begin muttering gibberish under my breath which amounted to - "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" I guess my anxiety transferred to the class because they started asking "What is wrong Mrs. Holland?" I delicately stated "I don't know how to tell you all this so I am just going to say it!! I have ruined someone's ring!" They immediately jumped up and ran to the back. It turned out to be So and So's class ring and thankfully, he was very very calm about the unfortunate situation. I told him I would pay for it if it came down to that. I asked him how much it cost, and he said $400.00. I about threw up right there. Some of the other students were sweet and tried to make us feel better. They said "Oh So and So, it looks cool. It is a one of a kind ring now. It looks like it is really old pewter." I told him to go home and show his parents and let me know what they said. I was utterly mortified.

When I got home, Husband Fred asked how my day was. I said "Do you really want to know?" I proceeded to tell him and instead of consoling me, he dares to say "Angela, what possessed you to do something like that?" First of all, he never uses my name except when he is irritated with me and second, nothing possessed me that I am aware of. Grrr...... To make things even worse, I kept waking up during the night every 30 minutes thinking about that doggone silver ring that I had turned black!!! It truly was the Horror of Horrors!!

The next day at school, students were coming up to me in the hall saying "Oh I heard you ruined So and So's class ring! Way to go Mrs. Holland!" When So and So came to class, I asked him what his parents said. He said that they were mad at him! YES!! Not at me!! Thank goodness!! But to make both of us feel better, the ring was covered by a warranty, and he could get a brand new one. So I ended the day by asking the students what they had learned this week. They responded without too much thought - "Don't ever let Mrs. Holland clean your rings!!" I agreed wholeheartedly!!!

Now on to the recipe. I am still cooking out of Trisha Yearwood's cookbook. The game finally chose something sweet. I was beginning to wonder if I needed to change my method. I do tend to start at the front of the book and play the game. I think that is why I get all those chicken recipes!! I will be making Crescent Cookies, and before Food Police gets her calorie counter out and starts clicking away, I will be taking these to my students to sample. I will eat one maybe two however!!

You will need butter or margarine, powdered sugar, flour, vanilla, salt and walnuts or pecans!

Add the butter, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla.

Cream all that goodness together!

It will look like this after a couple of minutes.

Beat in the flour and stir in the nuts by hand!

Roll into one inch balls and form a crescent. Please do not judge me by the condition of my cookie sheets!! Bake them for about 15 minutes at 325 degrees.

Take them out and cool on a rack. Be gentle because, I with my heavy hand, broke a few!! I took this picture with my I-Phone and did not know how to rotate it!!

Roll them in powdered sugar and enjoy!! Same thing here - I took the picture with the phone and am too technologically inept to figure out the rotation thing!

Everyone that ate one of these absolutely loved them. They are not overly sweet and remind me of the Sand Tarts my Bigmama used to make. Husband Fred took some to a meeting and served them with coffee, and the People raved and cheered and stormed the streets for more. I am kidding, but they did rave about them!! I surprised my students with them, and they stood up and cheered and did a happy dance. Again, I am joking, but they did tell me I was a good cook!! That one made me smile. I think they are manipulating me to get some more goodies!! Hmmmm.........

Here is your recipe.....

Crescent Cookies

Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen

Trisha Yearwood

1 C of butter, softened

1 C confectioners' sugar

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsps vanilla

2 1/4 C sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 C finely chopped pecans ( I used walnuts)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a bowl, cream together butter, 1/4 cup of sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in the flour and then stir in the nuts.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Form the ball into a crescent Arrange the cookies 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown but the tops are still pale. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Put the remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a bowl. Roll the cooled cookies in the sugar, coating liberally. Store in an airtight container.

Now go have a great day...........

The Plan and Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen's Chicken Broccoli Casserole

2012-01-29T10:59:00.000-06:00

I will just jump right into this blog post. There is no way to ease into it gracefully. Husband Fred thinks that I have a "Grand Plan" to kill him and collect on the insurance money. I am not kidding one bit. Let me tell you a little bit about the "Plan".

I don't know why, but I leave drawers open - sock drawers, T-shirt drawers, silverware drawers, bathroom drawers, any drawer. I don't know why. I have no clue. Maybe I am just lazy when it comes to closing drawers. Unfortunately, if I leave one open at night, guess who runs into it? Not me but Husband Fred. He is always wandering at night to let the cats out or to go the bathroom. I know he has run into an open drawer when I hear the proverbial guttural primal shout-out! I won't get into what he shouts out, but you get the picture. As he throws himself back into bed in pain, he will always mutter "Is this part of the Plan?"

One night about five years ago, I was having a bout with insomnia. Of course, Husband Fred was loudly sawing logs at my side. I can honestly say that I despised him at that moment. Why does sleep come so easily to him? As I tossed and turned, I started thinking from a medical background about snoring. What could I do to stop that horrible noise? I was in the midst of teaching CPR to my students, and I thought "I will open his airway!" To do this, you must place one hand on the forehead and one hand on the chin. You then pull back on the head and tilt it back. Oh yeah! So here I go!! I positioned myself on my knees so that I could perform this technique on Husband Fred without his permission during his slumber. I got as far as the tilting of the head back!! Husband Fred opened his eyes which bugged out really far when he saw me perched over him with my hands on his head. He screamed "Is this part of the Plan?" He looked so weird that I knew in my heart that he did not believe me when I said "I was just trying to see if I could get you to quit snoring!" Usually he sleeps with his back to me, but that night, he didn't. He kept an eye on me.

Just this past week, the "Plan" came into play again. As I have told you before, Husband Fred colors my hair. We have the routine down. I set up a stool in the den and mix the color. He spends the next 10 minutes trying to get the gloves on. The gloves come with the color and must be made for a Size 0 woman. I could do a whole blog post on watching him try to put the gloves on. I digress. Anyway, after the color is on, I usually clean up, but I didn't this time. This means I left the stool out in the middle of the den floor. Whoops! We go to bed and around 3:00 am or so, Mickey, the sweetest cat in the world, wants to go out. As always, Husband Fred gets up without complaint to let him out. A few minutes later, I hear the weirdest sound. There is a loud thump followed by the primal groan. I thought "What now?" He got in the bed and was rolling around in agony. I was so tired that I pretended not to hear him because I did not want to get in a discussion about "The Plan!" That next morning, I staggered into the kitchen, and there he stood. And out came the words "Was that part of The Plan?" I played dumb and replied "I don't know what you are talking about dear!" Through gritted teeth, he responds "Leaving the stool out! I ran into it, kicked it, and about broke my ankle! And while I am on the subject of The Plan, why do you have to always take your shoes off on my side of the bed? I tripped over those as I was getting back into bed after falling over the stool!" I sweetly replied "Well, at least, I didn't leave a drawer open!" He did not find that in the least bit funny!

Fun times!! On to the recipe.....I am still cooking from Trisha Yearwood's cookbook. I love this cookbook. The Eeny game chose Chicken Broccoli Casserole. You need to run go get the ingredients for this one right now. It is absolutely beyond delicious!! Trisha says that Garth eats this for breakfast. It is that good!!

I forgot two things in the ingredient picture. Good grief!! Chicken and rice!! You will also need cheddar cheese, sour cream, broccoli, cream of chicken soup, lemon, and mayo!! Look Food Police at all the fat free, light, and Healthy Request choices I made. I need a reward!! How about a doughnut!! Just kidding!!

Grease a 9x13 dish. This is my favorite!! Spread 2 cups of cooked rice as the first layer.

Make a second layer with the cooked broccoli.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together including the chicken. Beautiful picture!!

Spread that mixture over the broccoli and top with cheese. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. It comes out smelling and looking yummy!

This is what it looks like when it is screaming to you to take a bite.

Here is the recipe...

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen

Trisha Yearwood

2 C cooked rice

3 C cooked chopped broccoli

1 C sour cream

1/2 C mayonnaise

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 10 ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup

10 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded ( I used Barefoot Contessa's roasting method - 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt and pepper before roasting - Delicious)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13x2 pan. Spread the rice as the first layer and then make a second layer with the broccoli.

In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, soup, half of the grated cheese, salt, pepper, and chicken. Pour this mixuter ove the broccoli and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 40 minutes and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Now go have a great day.......

Words with Friends and Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen's Betty's Cabbage Medley

2012-01-21T11:15:00.002-06:00

Well, Happy New Year y'all!!! One of my New Year's resolutions was to post more frequently on my blog. You can see how well that one is turning out!! But hopefully, I can right the ship and get moving on it. Before we get to the new cookbook and the Eeny recipe, I wanted to tell you about my new found love. I recently broke down and got a SmartPhone - an IPhone to be specific. I resisted and resisted the urge to spend hard-earned money on a silly phone, but I am here to tell you, it is not just a phone. It is a mini-computer that makes phone calls!! I have fallen in love with it. Of course, there was a major learning curve!! But I soon discovered the "App Store", and I was off and running. My first download was "Words with Friends". It is essentially a Scrabble game!! You send requests to your friends to play, and the fun begins. Some games can last weeks depending on how busy you are. Now that I have played it for awhile, I can honestly see how Alec Baldwin threw a hissy fit on an airplane about having to turn his IPad off before take-off. He was right in the middle of probably trying to think of a word that would get him a TL (Triple Letter) score plus a TW (Triple Word) score all at once. It is maddening. I get it Alec!! I have four games going right now! Unfortunately, I have not won a game yet. I get really upset about this fact. I am extremely competitive, and this hurts me to the core!! I feel like I have a good vocabulary and should be able to play well but I think my strategies are weak. Just last night, I was unable to sleep because one of my friends scored - Are You Ready?!!!- 75 points on one word. The word was bisk, and it got the coveted TL and TW scores. I will let you look up the word bisk. I am still mad!!

Now on to the recipe...I chose Trisha Yearwood's Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen cookbook. It is filled with wonderful stories about her family and her life with Garth Brooks. She reminds me of Christy Jordan over at www.southernplate.com. Their recipes always have memories attached to them. I love it!! The Eeny game chose Betty's Cabbage Medley. I was a little upset about the choice. Don't get me wrong!! I love cabbage, and Husband Fred is wild about it. I was just wanting it to choose something a little more exciting. But again, I resisted the cheating impulse and proceeded to get started!!

Here is the beautiful cookbook!! I love cookbooks!! Can you tell?? I got five new ones for Christmas this year. My friends and family know me well!!

In a very large saucepan (I used my wok), spread 1 cup sliced carrots on the bottom.

Layer a cup of thinly sliced onions on top of the carrots.

Layer a cup of diced celery on top of the carrots and onions.

Finally, put about 6 cups of cabbage cut into chunks on the top of the layers! I think I should have gotten a smaller head of cabbage, but I made it work!!

You sprinkle sugar, warm water and oil over the whole mixture, pop the top on, and cook for 10 minutes. You stir the vegetables and let them stand for 20 minutes and you are ready to go.

I served the cabbage with pork chops and a baked sweet potato. The cabbage was out of this world. I felt like that was a pretty healthy supper. What do you think Food Police??

Here is the recipe....

Betty's Cabbage Medley

Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen

Trisha Yearwood

1 C sliced carrots

1 C sliced onions

1 C diced celery

1 small head cabbage, cut in chunks (about 6 cups)

1 Tbs sugar

2 C warm water

1/4 C corn oil

In a large heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, arrange the vegetables in layers in the following order: carrots, onions, celery, and cabbage.
Sprinkle the sugar on top, and pour in the water and oil. Cover the pan and cook over high heat for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, stir, replace the lid, and let the vegetables stand for 20 minutes.

Now go have a great day...

A Couple of Stories and My Christmas Eve Brunch Menu (Just a Little Late!!)

2011-12-27T15:03:00.002-06:00

"Son!!" as Son-in-Law has taught me to say!! December got the better of me this year, and I am way behind on my blog. I did not get out of school until December 22nd, and that was because I snagged a sub in September!! Otherwise, it would have been December 23rd!! What happened to getting out for Christmas Break a week before Christmas? We go back January 3rd to add insult to injury. Do you know how hard it is to get distracted teenagers to pay attention in class on December 21st? It was the horror of horrors!!! So that is why I am behind SON!!!

I finished my Christmas shopping on December 22nd in a monsoon!! That is what I get for waiting to the last minute. Of course, Food Police and I had a major incident in the Target parking lot. I pulled the car up to the loading dock so we would not get all our treasures so wet, and Food Police let go of the cart, and it rammed a lady's car. Food Police said she thought I had it, and I said I thought she had it. It was raining sideways at this point!! The lady was very nice and waved us on. She was probably afraid to lower her window to talk to us because we looked half-way crazy!! AGH!!!

Later that night, I decided to go grocery shopping so I would have all day Friday to get ready for my Brunch. So after making my grocery list and checking it 3 times, Husband Fred and I head out to Publix at 8:00 pm on a Wednesday night. Now if you will recall, I have written about Wednesday being Senior Day at Publix. I forgot this until we go to the Check-out line and saw a sign that stated "Don't forget to ask about your 5% Senior Discount!" I gleefully showed the sign to Husband Fred and told him that he needed to inquire about the age!! Hee Hee!! So the next thing I know, he has leaned over to the cashier and in a hushed voice asked "What is the age you have to be to get the Senior Discount?" She said "60!" And I said Woo-hoo!!! He said "I am sure you want to see my ID?", and she said "No that is OK! I believe you!" I couldn't help but to go into a major laughing spasm. Poor Husband Fred, but hey, it saved me almost $20.00. No more will I make fun of Senior Day.

I am deviating from my Eeny Meeny Game to bring you my Brunch Menu. I have been doing Christmas Eve Brunch now for about 10 or 11 years. It is a come and go event and is always the highlight of my holidays. I always have so many requests for the recipes that I thought I would put them in the blog. This menu is tried and true, and you can use it for New Year's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc... You get the picture. I always try to add one new recipe, and this year it was Christy Jordan's Harvest Cinnamon Rolls, and SON they were a hit. So here we go.

Breakfast Casserole

Southern Cheese Grits Casserole

Homemade Harvest Cinnamon Rolls

Brown Sugar Bacon

Praline French Toast Casserole

Holiday Fruit Salad

Sister Schubert's Sausage Rolls

Mama's Fruitcake Cookies

Orange Blush

Spiced Cranberry Cider

Coffee

Hot Chocolate

Let's start with Mama's Fruitcake Cookies. I did a little picture tutorial on those. I remember these being in the refrigerator every Christmas when I was little. I would sneak into the kitchen, open the fridge, unwrap these, and get me a little bite any time I could. They are the best, and I make them in honor of her every Christmas!! One thing that I didn't do was have Mama write the recipe down. I thought I could remember it!! Don't ever make that mistake!! So Food Police found a cookbook by Gooseberry Patch called Christmas in the Country that had the recipe. Thank goodness. That is a lesson learned.

You will need a box of Vanilla Wafers, a can of sweetened condensed milk, walnuts, candied fruit, vanilla, and confectioner's sugar.

Put the Vanilla wafers in a ziploc bag and crush the life out of them. I used my big canister!!

Add the remaining goodness, and mix well. That is the wonderful cookbook that had the recipe in it.

Roll the goodness into a log and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Roll the log tightly in waxed paper, and place in the refrigerator. These make great gifts as well. Food Police's Father-in-Law gets several of these as Christmas presents. He loves them with his morning coffee!!

Here is the recipe.....

Mama's Fruitcake Cookies

Gooseberry Patch's Christmas in the Country

16 oz pkg vanilla wafers, finely crushed

1 c red candied cherries, chopped

1 c green candied cherries, chopped

1 c candied pineapple, chopped

2 c walnuts, chopped

14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 T vanilla

Powdered Sugar

Mix all ingredients except powdered sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Divide into 4 portions; form each into an 8x2 inch roll. Coat each roll in powdered sugar; wrap with was paper and twist ends. Chill and cut into 1 inch slices. Keep refrigerated. Makes about 3 dozen.

Now on to the rest of the recipes:

Breakfast Casserole - Southern Living Magazine

6 slices bread

Butter

1 pound pork sausage

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

6 eggs, beaten

2 cups half and half

1 tsp salt

1. Remove crusts from bread. Spread bread with butter. Place in a greased 13x9x2 dish.

2. Brown sausage, drain, and spoon over bread. Sprinkle with cheese.

3. Combine eggs, half and half and salt and pour over cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before baking. Bake UNCOVERED at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Yields 8 servings.

Southern Cheese Grits Casserole - Southern Living Magazine

5 c water

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c quick grits

12 oz Velveeta Cheese (You will need the big one. It is marked in either 3 or 4 oz measures. I can't remember right now!!)

1/2 T garlic powder

3/4 c butter

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 c milk

1/4 tsp pepper

1. Bring water to a boil, and add grits. Make sure you stir well as you add the grits, or you will get lumps. Cook grits uncovered for 3 minutes. (When they start popping, I put the cover on loosely. Those little things will burn and stick on your skin!!)

2. Add cheese and butter and stir until melted. Add eggs, milk, garlic powder and pepper. Stir well.

3. Pour into a 3-qt greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Yields 12 servings.

Christy Jordan's - www.southernplate.com - Harvest Cinnamon Rolls

1 loaf frozen white bread dough (such as Rhode's)
1/4 Cup butter or margarine, softened
1 Cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries (can use raisins or dried cherries)
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1 Tablespoon orange zest (or more to taste)

Icing

3 ounce cream cheese, softened
1/4 Cup butter or margarine, softened
1-1/2 Cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Place loaf of dough on plate and let sit at room temperature until thawed. Once thawed, roll out onto floured surface to a size of about nine inches by sixteen inches.
Spread 1/4 C margarine or butter over dough.
Place cranberries in a bowl and cover with hot water, let sit for five minutes to plump, then drain well.
In small bowl mix together brown sugar and 3 T cinnamon. Sprinkle over top of cinnamon roll, stopping about 1/2 an inch away from the sides so it will seal (see photos). Sprinkle pecans, cranberries, and orange zest over brown sugar mixture.
Carefully roll up cinnamon roll into a log, squeezing lightly as you do to seal it. Slice into one inch slices with serrated knife.
Place in greased 9x13 inch pan and cover with cling wrap. Place in warm spot and allow to rise until doubled in size. Remove cling wrap and bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, or until done.
Icing: Mix all ingredients together and beat with electric mixer until creamy. Spread over cinnamon rolls.
*To Freeze:* Prepare Cinnamon rolls up through step six (through the baking process). Once baked, allow to cool and then wrap well with foil. Freeze. Best if used within a month or two. To reheat frozen rolls, allow to thaw and then cover loosely with foil and place in 200 degree oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Remove from oven and top with cream cheese icing.

Brown Sugar Bacon - Katie Joel

1/2 c brown sugar

1 T Dijon mustard

1/4 pound thickly sliced bacon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. In a large ziploc bag, combine brown sugar and mustard. Add bacon and coat.

3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a cooling rack on the baking sheet. Put bacon on rack and roast in oven for 20 minutes.

4. Let drain for a few minutes on the rack and serve. DO NOT put it on a paper towel to drain or the brown sugar will stick to the towel and you will have a mess. Who would even think about doing that? Hee Hee!!

Praline French Toast Casserole

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

French Toast:

1 loaf French Bread, 13 - 16 ounces

8 large eggs

2 c half and half

1 c whole milk

2 T granulated sugar

1 T vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Praline Topping:

2 sticks butter, softened

1 c packed light brown sugar

1 c chopped pecans

2 T light corn syrup

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Raspberry Syrup:

1 c raspberry preserves

2 T orange juice

3 T water

1. Grease a 13x9x2 pan. Cut the bread crosswise into 20 1-inch slices. Arrange the slices in two overlapping rows.

2. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half and half, milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Beat with a whisk until the mixture is blended but not too foamy. Pour the mixture over the bread slices, making sure they are all covered evenly. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

3. The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the praline topping. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, pecans, corn syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg and blend with a fork. Spread the topping over the bread slices. Bake until puffed and lightly golden, about 45 minutes.

4. To make the raspberry syrup, heat the preserves, OJ, and water over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Stir until wamr and thinned out to a syruplike consistency.

5. Serve the French toast with a drizzle of the syrup. Yields 6-8 servings.

Holiday Fruit Salad - www.southernplate.com - Christy Jordan

6-8 Apples
6 Oranges
1 lb Grapes
3-4 Cans Fruit Cocktail (You can use generic, it is every bit as good!)
1 Cup sugar
6 egg yolks

Peel fruit and chop into small pieces. Cut oranges over apples so that the juice from the oranges will stop the apples from turning dark. Pour fruit cocktail over fruit. Drain juice from fruit into saucepan.
Add 1 cup sugar and 6 egg yolks. Blend well.
Cook approximately 15 minutes over medium heat stirring occasionally until slightly thickened. Cool. Pour over fruit.
Cover and refrigerate. Will keep in frig for a week. Make at least 24 hours ahead so that flavors can marry. Optional: Coconut and pecans. Bananas can be added but they turn dark quick and the fruit salad will not last as long in refrigerator.

Orange Blush - This recipe was given to me from somebody. I had it at a wedding shower, loved it, and asked for the recipe.

2 6-oz cans frozen OJ concentrate, thawed and undiluted

2 c cranberry juice cocktail

1/2 c sugar

1 28-oz club soda, chilled

Crushed ice

1. Combine OJ, cranberry juice and sugar in a serving pitcher; stir well to dissolve sugar. Chill thoroughly.

2. Stir in chilled club soda just before serving. Pour over crushed ice in glasses. Serves 12 depending on the size of your glasses.

Spiced Cranberry Cider - Southern Living Magazine

1 quart apple cider

3 c cranberry juice

2-3 tbs brown sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

3/4 tsp whole cloves

1/2 lemon, sliced

1. Bring ingredients to a boil, stirring often. (I do mine in a percolator)

2. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.

3. Remove spices and lemon.

Yields 7 cups

There you go. The Sister Schubert Sausage Rolls are found in the frozen bread section of your grocery store. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as my family has. Unfortunately, Food Police will have a stroke when she sees the ingredients and all the butter and eggs I used. Oh well!! I will be back on the Eeny Game after New Year's!! Happy New Year!!!

The Christmas Lights and Gooseberry Patch's Homemade Christmas Baked Brown Sugar Oatmeal

2011-12-10T11:19:00.003-06:00

Goodness!!! It has been awhile since I posted. Between school and the Christmas lights, I am barely keeping my head above water. But that is OK because the Christmas lights are - more or less - up and running.

When we moved to our present house about 25 years ago, Little Food Police was 4 years old. We had one little pine tree in our front yard which we decided to decorate with lights that first Christmas. That is when the addiction began. We began adding one thing a year to the display until now it has taken over our lives beginning around the end of October. Husband Fred, who should have been an engineer, has had to divide the yard into electrical sectors so that we don't blow a fuse when the lights are on. One year before he calculated the voltage load, whatever that is, I could not wash or dry clothes at night because the fuse would blow. It was nuts!!

Husband Fred and I have gotten into many an argument over these lights. We have specific roles for the putting up of the lights. My assignment is to string all the trees with white lights and do the bushes in green. It is very tedious because I try to follow each individual limb of the tree with lights. AGH!! He gets on the roof and does the icicle lights and the Santa going down the chimney. He also sets up all the structures in the yard plus builds a very tall tree around the giant sycamore tree. He then is responsible for laying out the thousands of extension cords. All of this stuff is stored in the attic so he has to climb up in the attic and laboriously lower each piece to me - "The Impatient One" - at the bottom of the steps. I say that he moves at the speed of Turtle. Just to tell you, one year we did an Open House, the guests were arriving, and he was still out in the yard putting up lights. He didn't even have time to take a shower. I know the neighbors sit out on their front porches and listen to the steady stream of dialogue that happens when we are out putting up the lights. It is great entertainment I am sure!!

The best thing about the lights, though, is to sit in the living room with all the lights off in the house and watch the steady stream of cars go by. We have a system where we grade the activity. There are the drive-bys which have already seen the lights and probably live on the street. We have the slow-downs who are going about 2-5 mph, and then the much appreciated stoppers who take pictures and sometimes even back up to get another look. We have even had people stop, get out of their cars, and take pictures by some of the structures. Oh the joy of it all!!

This year has been no different. He still has to finish some of the lights tonight, and it is December 10th!!! We were late getting our 5-Foot Santa positioned and dancing at the front door because Husband Fred needed to do shoulder surgery on him. He has danced so much over the years that he threw his arm out of joint. After the surgery, he also shrank about a foot so now he is Dancing 4-Foot Santa. Grrrr.......But what is so cool is that we are dedicating the lights to Valor Flight which is a community service project that flies Korean War veterans to Washington, DC to visit the Korean War Memorial. We invite you to drive by, enjoy the lights, and then make a donation at www.valorflight.com. It is a wonderful project. Husband Fred was lucky enough to be chosen to fly with the first Valor Flight, and it is something he will never forget.

This is a picture of the house at 1108 Woodmont Avenue in Huntsville, AL taken in 2009. It looks alot different this year. We have added a digital clock that counts down to Christmas in days, hours, minutes, and seconds. The kids love it!!

I love the lights.....I love the lights....I love the lights.....Now on to something else I love, and that is cooking. I chose as my next cookbook - Homemade Christmas - by Gooseberry Patch. If you have never tried a Gooseberry Patch cookbook, they are awesome. I think I have 10 or so of them so I will be sharing more recipes from the various ones. The Eeny Game chose Baked Brown Sugar Oatmeal. I was excited because I love breakfast and brunch foods.

Here you go!! A much better picture I must say!!

You will need quick-cooking oatmeal, white and brown sugar, milk ( I used Almond Milk), eggs, salt, oil, and baking powder.

Whisk together oil, eggs, and sugars.

Mix the oats, baking powder and salt and add to the oil mixture. Add the milk and stir it all together.

Put the mixture into a greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

It comes out looking like this. So beautiful!!!!

I spooned it up and added raisins to it. You could add whatever topping you like. It is awesome!

I must say this was easy and delicious. It tastes just like a warm oatmeal cookie. So so good!! I plan to serve it at my Christmas Eve Brunch which I will write about later in the month. I will give you my menu which has stood the test of time. Now here is your recipe---

Baked Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Gooseberry Patch's Homemade Christmas

1/2 c oil - Food Police says use applesauce instead!

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 c brown sugar, packed

1/2 c sugar

3 c quick cooking oats

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 c milk

Optional: Toppings like nuts, raisins, etc..

Whisk together oil, eggs and sugars; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine oats, baking powder and salt. Add to oil mixture. Add milk and stir well. Pour into a greased 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until top is golden. Serve warm, either plain or with toppings. Serves 6.

Now go have a great day, and come see the Christmas Lights!!

What I am Thankful For and Cooking for a Cause Salmon Patties

2011-11-23T09:29:00.003-06:00

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have so much to be thankful for, and I know you do too.

Today I was thankful for the Roto-Rooter Man because, for some reason, our old faucet in one of the showers decided it would not turn off. It was spewing mega hot water everywhere. Husband Fred tried to turn the water off at the street but, and I quote, "I don't have the right tool, and I am going to be late for work!" So that leaves me to greet Roto-Rooter Man at the door at 7:00 am this morning. $125.00 later, the faucet was fixed.

I am thankful for Husband Fred who gets up every morning at 5:00 am and works himself to the bone to provide for us. Even though he could not find the right tool today, has not finished the Christmas lights, and still has not moved the building (inside joke), I love him with all my heart. I am thankful for all he does!

I am thankful for Food Police.  She is the best daughter a Mama could ask for. She is one of the most caring and honest people I know. I wish you could all meet her. I also am thankful for her side-kick - Son-in-Law. He makes me laugh when no one else can and will get me to do things that I thought I never could like laying sod in the yard and getting me in the ocean during the sharks' feeding time. I still have not recovered from that one!

I am thankful for my Dad and the fact that he is still getting it done at 78 years of age. I am thankful when I call him every morning that he answers the phone, and I ask "What are you doing?" and he always has the same answer   "I am reading the paper, drinking my coffee, and eating an orange!" That is music to my ears.

I am thankful for all of my friends. They bring peace to an otherwise crazy world. For instance, I want to tell you what my work buddy Kim did today.  She brought me a WHOLE Sweet Potato Pie. Yes Food Police - a WHOLE pie. It is her grand-mother's recipe, and Thanksgiving would not be complete without it. She also buys me Babaganoush because I cannot find it at my local grocery store. She rescues me when I cannot get the technology to work in my classroom. What is so funny though is when she is not there I can make it work myself. Hmmmmm......... My other work buddy - Lynne - is cut from the very same cloth as me. She throws the best birthday party for me every year at her pool. Fun times can I say!! She always has a funny joke, saying, or YouTube video to help us take it down a notch. In fact, last night she made an "Office Max Elf Yourself" video of the three work buddies as elves dancing to an 80's song. The program takes your face and puts it on a little elf. Can I say I laughed hysterically for 30 minutes and released enough endorphins to get me through the week!!!! I really wish I could dance like that and was that skinny!!

Speaking of skinny, I am thankful for my Body Pump Instructor - Amber - who tried to kill me yesterday with these new push-ups!! Horrors!! But between she and Food Police, I have lost over 10 pounds.

I am thankful for my Aunt Susie. She, like Son-in-Law, can make me laugh like no other. The best story lately from her was when her Mother made 6 year old Susie play the song "500 Miles" by Peter, Paul and Mary on her little ukelele for her grandfather when he was on his deathbed. I don't know why that made us laugh, but I think it was the mental picture thing!! She is the one who coined the phrase "Horror of horrors!" That ukelele story is a horror of horrors.

I am thankful for my sweet animals.   They bring such fun and life to an empty nest. However, one of my dear friends Sara, who I am thankful for as well and who knows my weaknesses, has offered me a cat named Jackie. She is a brown tabby and looks like a cat I met at the beach one year. I am thankful for Sara but why are you doing this to me?? You know me!! I will keep you updated.

I am thankful for Food Police's In-laws. They are some of the sweetest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and she is the best cook known to man. I am thankful I get to share Thanksgiving with them.

I am thankful for my students. They keep me young and on my toes. They make me laugh and give me a captive audience to try out my different accents and new jokes on.

I am thankful that I get to watch "Christmas Vacation" this week. We kick off the Christmas season with this movie to get us pumped to get those Christmas lights done.

I am thankful that Alabama is number 2 in the BCS standings and that when they annihilate Auburn Saturday and Arkansas beats LSU on Friday, they will be number 1 as they deserve. RTR!!!!!!!

I am thankful for the restaurant Little Rosie's. I crave their Chicken Fajita Salad. I want one right now!! I am getting hungry!

I am thankful for my blog experiment and all the opportunities it has afforded me. I am thankful for all of y'all that read it religiously and ask "When are you going to post another story and recipe?" Thank you for indulging me.

On to the recipe.....This is the last recipe I am cooking out of the Cooking for a Cause cookbook. I will turn my sights to my various Christmas cookbooks for here on out until we hit the New Year. The Eeny game chose Salmon Patties. I have made these 1000 different ways but I really really liked these. They held together better than any other, and they make for a quick week-night meal. I will definitely make these again and again.

You will need a can of salmon, corn meal, crackers, an egg, and salt and pepper.

Drain the salmon reserving the liquid. Add the crackers to the liquid and in another bowl, flake the salmon.

This is what the crackers absorbing the juice looks like!! WOW!!

Add your other ingredients to the salmon. WOW!!

Mix it all together. This is riveting!

Brown them on each side. I used Pam spray instead of oil. Food Police was here helping me!! Hey it worked!!

Plate and you are done!! I got this simple but yummy meal on the table in under 30 minutes Rachael Ray!!

Here is your recipe......

Salmon Patties

Cooking for a Cause

Sandy Cross

1 (16-oz) can pink salmon

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/4 C cornmeal

1/2 C saltine crackers crumbs

1/4 tsp pepper

Oil or Pam for browning

Drain the salmon, reserving liquid. Flake the salmon. Combine liquid with cracker crumbs in bowl. Mix this well. Wait a little while and add your salmon, cornmeal, egg, salt and pepper. Mix well and shape into patties. Brown on both sides in Pam or oil in large skillet. Drain on paper towels. Serves 4

Now go have a great day and Thanksgiving!!!