Chicken Migas

grab a tortilla and sit a spell.

Generally I agree with The Pioneer Woman on most food related issues.

To me though, Migas is not Migas without Chorizo.

Chorizo is really greasy and fatty though. A local market, I adore Sprouts Farmer’s Market, sells ground chicken chorizo. I decided to give the chicken a try and boy, howdy I’m glad I did. Chicken Chorizo is excellent.

I adapted a Pioneer Woman recipe, I added 1 pound of chicken Chorizo I browned it, drained off the minimal fat and proceeded with Ree’s recipe.

A few things I altered.

• I omitted the Jalapeño, due to a tween with a low spicy tolerance.
• I used 2% milk instead of Half-and-half
• I used cheddar cheese

Here is the original recipe ingredient list.

• 4 whole Corn Tortillas
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Seeds And Membranes Removed, Finely Diced
• 4 whole Plum Tomatoes, Roughly Chopped
• 1 whole Green Pepper, Roughly Chopped
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Roughly Chopped
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
• 12 whole Large Eggs
• 1/4 liter Cotija Cheese, Grated (may Use Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Etc.)
• 1/3 cup Cilantro, Chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Half-and-half

To view entire recipe click here.

Serve with refried beans and corn or flour tortillas.

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Rainy Day Garden Gab

The wind blew away most of my seed markers.

Welcome to rain-apocalypse 2012

at least that is how the weather team on T.V. is treating it.   It’s  been raining here for a little over 12 hours.  Storming, wind howling, thunder booming, lightning flashing, big, cold drops of rain falling.

Since we just planted the garden, this is a blessing and a curse.   Water is great, a good soaking rain is great.

Puddles, not so much.

Yesterday we had high wind, crazy wind.  Crazy blowing away most of my seed markers wind.  This year the garden will be a little but of a surprise…. I can not remember where I planted everything. Ha!

Seeds are all about snorkeling, right?

Clearly we have some high and low areas....

Below the garden is a swamp....

My swamp.

These strawberries are survivors from last summer. They laugh at the water, they are already planning strawberry-topia 2

The raised bed is protected from much of the rain. The cats and birds are another story though.

There is no real update on my Grandmother, she is still hospitalized, they believe the mental confusion is due to a slight bladder infection.  She is fighting her treatment.  She keeps removing her I.V.

If you’re a prayer sort of person, I’d appreciate your prayers for her.

Bitchin’ Shepherd’s Pie

I was once again inspired by Bitchin’ Kitchen.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, filled with lots of family, lots of together time and (for me) lots of cooking.

We had dinner out on Wednesday night, I was thrilled and fortunate to meet a new friend. My husband’s childhood friend. We had dinner with Melissa and her parents on Wednesday. Then, Thursday was filled with driving, family, food, driving, cooking, family, more food and A/C drama.

I did NOT participate in the Black Friday sales craziness.

We had left-over turkey on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, I was (honestly) ready for something different.

You can only eat so much left over turkey….am I right, or am I right?!?!

Bitchin’ Kitchen to the rescue.

This tasty twist on Shepherd’s pie looks, in a word….Awesome.

I fiddled with it. For taste reasons, for what I had on hand reasons. I also used mostly frozen veggies. I’m wild like that.

Hey, what can I say…I’m trying to clean out my freezer.

The things you find in your chest style deep freeze. Tons of frozen veggies, cheese, muffins (how long have they been there eh?) frozen stock, frozen fruit and a chicken that was clearly trying to hide itself as a veggie because it was totally surrounded by veggies. Good try chicken. Good try.

Here is my edited “what I had on-hand” version……

What you need:

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cans of cream corn or frozen cream corn or freshly made cream corn *I used frozen*
• 1 cup of fresh, frozen or canned corn *I used frozen Mexi-corn with onions and green & red peppers in it*
• 1 1/2 – 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones) or 1 package frozen mashed potatoes *I used frozen-it’s microwaveable*
• 4-5 tablespoons butter
• heavy cream, a few (4-ish) Tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• a couple of grinds of pepper
• 1 teaspoon of tarragon
• 2 teaspoon of parsley
• enough bread crumbs to sprinkle the top of the potatoes

What to do:

• Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes). Or Microwave the frozen, ready to mash potatoes.
• While the potatoes are cooking, add ground beef to a hot pan and sauté until no longer pink. Drain fat. Add salt and pepper. Add onion. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
• Place beef and onions in baking dish.

• Add cream corn, corn, parsley, tarragon and a Tablespoon or two of heavy cream to the pan the meat was in, cook until warm and bubbly.

• Pour cream corn mixture over the beef and onions.

• Mash potatoes in bowl with butter and a Tablespoon or two of heavy cream, season to taste.
• Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and place a few slices of butter into the potatoes (I used 3 small slivers on top)

• Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Use the Broil setting for last 5 minutes to brown.

I think that you could exchange the meat for beans quite successfully and make this a vegetarian dish. I have not tried making this particular dish a vegetarian dish. Not yet.

This recipe makes a lot of Shepherd’s pie. We have enough left for another meal, or left-overs.

How was your weekend? How was your Thanksgiving Holiday (if you are in the U.S.)?

Slow it Down, Slow cooker beef stew.

The Winner of my Yoplait giveaway was Linda of Savoring Every Bite! She recently posted a lovely Pumpkin Rugelach recipe that you should totally check out!

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I adore my slow cookers. Yes, I said cookers…as in plural, as in I have 3. Well, I have 4 of you count the little dipper (warming only). I make oatmeal, applesauce, soups, stews, roasts, cobblers, lasagna (the list goes on and on…) in my slow cooker.

Yes, I adore my slow cookers.

When I was a single gal, I loved making a soup or a stew via the slow cooker. I’d come home to an apartment that smelled lovely and be able to eat a healthy dinner without a lot of after work fuss. Which was good, because without my slow cooker the Taco Bell near my apartment would have known me even better than they already did.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for bean burritos.

Once I was a seriously dating gal and an engaged gal I was able to wow and impress my boyfriend/future husband with my chili and stews. It was in no small part due to the slow cooker. I have found that any meaty morsel that is allowed to cook low and slow for hours will become tender and wonderfully flavorful.

Anyhoo…. Allie and I are hosting a Slow Cooker recipe link-up. This link up will happen every 2 weeks for a while. So, if you have a slow cooker recipe to share please feel free to follow the little blue frog and enter a link to your slow cooker recipe post. We’d love to have you join in the slow cooker fun!

Beefy Stew

Ingredient List:

• 2 lbs beef or pork stew meat
• 2 cups sliced carrots
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 3-4 cups of stock (beef or chicken or veggie) I start with 3 add more if needed
• 2 + 1/4 cups of water
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes (poked with a tooth pick) or 1 can of chopped tomatoes.
• 1 large onion chopped OR 2 cups of frozen caramelized onions
• a splash of red wine
• 1/3 cup + 4 TBSP of corn starch
• 2-3 TBSP of garlic chopped
• 1 TBSP salt
• 1 TBSP pepper
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

What to do:

I like to use a liner in my slow cooker, it makes clean up easier. Reynolds sells slow cooker liners (in fact, there is a coupon on the Reynold website for $1.00 off your purchase in case you’d like to give them a go), and they work wonderfully.

• Mix your stew meat with 1/3 cup of corn starch (or flour if you prefer) making sure to coat each piece of meat.
• Add a little olive oil to a hot skillet and brown the meat, this is an important step that you should not skip.

Brown baby, Brown.

• While your meat is browning, chop your veggies. I prick my cherry tomatoes with a tooth pick so they will cook well and not be little tomato bombs. Trust me that you do not want tomato bombs in your stew. Tomato bombs= bad so poke your tomatoes or use canned tomatoes.

Whoa! Bright red tomatoes.

• Add the stock, wine and water to the slow cooker.
• Add seasoning and garlic to the slow cooker.
• Add the meat and veggies to the slow cooker.

One big happy stew-ey family.

• Stir to combine.
• Place the lid on the slow cooker and Slow cook for 8-10 hours on low or 6-8 hours on high.

About 1 hour before serving, add 4 TBSP of corn starch to the 1/4 cup of water. Mix well to combine. Pour into the stew and mix well to combine.
The corn starch will thicken the stew.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the shocking lack of potatoes in my stew. Shocking right? I do not care for mushy, stew-ey potatoes. So, I make mashed potatoes and serve my stew on top of them.

This one is for my husband.

Enjoy!

Meatless Monday….3 bean soup.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!   We’ve had a wonderful weekend here in central Texas.    The Texas State Fair opened on Friday, we’re planning to visit the fair tomorrow (Tuesday).  My children have Monday and Tuesday off this week, for the fair and a teacher in-service (6 weeks grade entering day).

On Sunday (yesterday) I decided to make 3 bean soup for Monday dinner.    I’ve got a repair man coming to fix my drippy ice maker today, so it’s won’t be a good day for cooking.

I’ve said it before, but it bares repeating…. I am not great at meal planning.  I usually have some sort of loose plan in my mind of meals to make, but I rarely plan more than 1 or 2 days in advance.  Horrible?  Yes.

Sunday morning  I decided to make bean soup, but I had not soaked my beans overnight.  OOPS!  I decided to throw caution to the wind and make soup without pre-soaking my beans.  Crazy right?

Fo Shizzle….that’s how I roll.

Monday’s meatless soup can become a meaty soup on Tuesday night, since I am going to be tired after my day at the fair.  Hopefully I will not gorge myself on fried Kool-aid, fried bubblegum and fried beer. 

This soup is wonderfully flavorful and so worth the extended time it took to cook it.  11:00 am to 4:00 pm cooking time.

*you could make this soup in the slow cooker, place everything into the slow cooker and cook on high for 6-8 hours, low for 8-10(+) hours*

Ingredient list:

• 4 cups of dried (mixed) beans.  I used a mixture of Organic Navy Beans, Organic Great Northern Beans and Organic Cranberry beans.
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 6 cups of veggie stock
• 2 cups of water (plus more if needed) I ended up with 4 cups of water in my soup.
• 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons of garlic salt
• 1 package of sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon of parsley

What to do….

Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a cast iron pot.  Saute the onion, garlic, and peppers until soft.

Add beans, spices, stock, tomatoes and water to the pot.

Bring the mixture to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer low and slow (stirring every so often) for about 4 hours.

If you need to, add more water or stock to the pot.  I ended up adding about 2 cups of water during the cooking time.

*You could totally cook this a lot quicker if you pre-soaked the beans*

 

 

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I’m making a whole wheat cornbread to enjoy with the soup. 

Are you meatless this Monday?  What are you making?

Mini, but mighty meaty.

I must confess, I make meatloaf using muffin pans.  Is that strange?  Probably.  See, sometimes it’s like Dinner Time Fight Club around here.  Everybody, and I mean everybody wants the crunchy bits.  How can I make everybody happy and support family harmony? Mini meatloaf.  It’s the only why I know how to make sure everyone gets crunchy bits.

Mini meatloaf

The meaty mix.

1 pound lean ground beef

1 pound ground Italian sausage

1 pound ground turkey

1 can diced tomatoes

2 eggs

Diced onions (I use the dried onions and I use about a 1/3 of a cup)

Salt & pepper (a dash or two)

Cilantro (a dash)

Bread crumbs (1 cup to 2 cups:what ever it takes to firm the meat up so it’s not soupy.)

The sauce.

8 oz can of tomato sauce

2 Tbsp brown sugar

Some candied jalapeno relish would be fabulous in the sauce!

Cilantro

A squirt of ketchup (I know…so classy)

Directions.

oven temp 350

Get everything together.

Then put on plastic gloves (unless u like meaty fingers) *rinse the gloves if they have powder on them*

Mix all the meat ingredients together, leaving the bread crumbs as the last item. You may only need 1 cup of bread crumbs, if the meat mixture is not firm-ish then add more bread crumbs until it is. In a separate bowl mix tomato sauce, brown sugar and ketchup. This is your glaze.

If you prefer spicy to sweet the use salsa instead of brown sugar.

You need 2 (12 cup) muffin pans and an ice-cream scooper. Use the ice-cream scooper to place the meat in the muffin pan. 1 scoop should almost fill each opening, but don’t overflow it. Once you’ve placed the meat in the muffin pan cover each meaty cup with a teaspoon of the sauce. Bake for about 30 min. or until firm and crispy. I usually leave mine in about 45 min.

My picture (only one picture, shocking Huh?)  was taken via my iPhone.  I am linking up with

Remember that we’re linking up our canning posts on Monday!

Allie and I will be hosting the canning link up, please feel free to link up any canning post you have written.  New, old…no biggie.

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend!

Red Tortilla Soup with Chicken

I love soups…love them…gobble them up. Soups freeze well, they taste better on day two or day three, I love soup. If it’s a Tex-Mex soup….even better.

Tex-Mex is one of my true food loves. Maybe it’s because I’m from Texas, maybe it’s just because Tex-Mex is Awesomesauce.

If you’re in the northern part of the United States, you may not have ever had true Tex-Mex. I’ve been to Pittsburgh, and although Pittsburgh has a fabulous sandwich with cole-slaw and fries in it (Bravo!) the Tex-Mex or Mexican food isn’t wonderful. (Think pasta sauce on an enchilada…) Meh.

Anyhoo…

We went to Taco Cabana over the weekend. If you’re unfamiliar with Taco Cabana…I’m sorry. Taco Cabana is an awesome Tex-Mex food chain (better than Taco Bell or Taco Bueno, but not as good as a “True” sit down restaurant).

Their cheese enchiladas come wrapped in these beautiful, red corn tortillas. I begged and pleaded my way into the purchase of 2 dozen uncooked red tortillas, for my tortilla soup. The cashier thought I was crazy, kept telling me they’d be uncooked…hard… “Didn’t I want fresh steamed ones?” Nope… I want the non-steamed red ones please! I convinced him.

Happy Dance!

I’ve never seen red corn tortillas anywhere else, although when I searched online Walmart claims to sell them. I have never seen them at Walmart though.

They are not necessary to make tortilla soup, but they sure are beautiful.

An adapted Pioneer Woman recipe via her post on Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

• Cooked chicken diced or shredded (about 2-3 cups) *omit for Vegetarian soup*
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Salt
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• 1/2 cup Diced Green Bell Pepper
• 1/2 cup Diced Red Bell Pepper
• 1/2 cup Diced Yellow Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can of yellow corn or fresh corn (1 & 1/2 cups)
• 1-2 cups of white or brown rice (uncooked)
• 1 can (10 Oz. Can) Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies (or 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can of green chilies)
• 4 cups Chicken Stock or Veggie Stock for Vegetarian soup
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Water
• 4 cups Black or Pinto Beans (frozen, canned or freshly cooked)
• 3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa*
• 5-8 whole Corn Tortillas, sliced into strips

Heat olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, peppers, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the spices. Stir to combine, then add the chicken and stir.

Add the Rotel (tomatoes and green chilies), chicken stock, rice, corn, tomato paste, water, and beans to the soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.

*Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water, it will make a paste. Add the corn meal paste into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. This will thicken the soup.

Turn off heat and allow the soup to rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips.

I fried half of the strips to make a crunchy topping.

Place the soup in mugs or bowls and serve with

• cheese
• crisp tortilla strips
• avocado
• salsa
• hot sauce
• sour cream

or anything you like to top your soup with.

Enjoy!

Kids ~VS~ Veggies…

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We had a very nice weekend. School starts today. This is bittersweet. While I am glad to have a little time to myself to chill out, shop or clean…I will miss them. A lot. Since I’ve got kiddo on the brain, I have a kid-centric post for you today.

Do you have picky people to feed? Do you struggle to get your family to eat veggies? I do.

When my son was 5 or 6 he was so averse to eating any green vegetable he would gag, choke, and flail. He told me all green things were evil.

Fun times at dinner.

Ah. Fun times.

He’s 13 now, and while he usually no longer flails he still is not fond of many veggies. A recent gagging episode with rainbow chard reminded me of the not so good old days.

Despite the picture below, Veggies are NOT evil.

Well, except for Brussel-Sprouts. They are pure evil. Little green balls of evil.

Here are a few things I have done to get my kids to try new veggies…….

• Try to get the kids involved in the veggie choices. I have found that kids are more likely to eat something if they helped pick it out.
• Have the kids help in the cooking process. Just like allowing them to help pick the veggies, allowing them to help in the cooking process will sometimes make them more willing to eat the veggies.
• Introduce the veggies in an unexpected way. The first time my kids tried black-eyed peas was in Texas Caviar. They still are not super fond of eating black-eyed peas unless they are in Texas Caviar, but they will give it a try now. They frequently ask for Texas Caviar and will gobble it up any time I make it.
• Offer a few options, ask them to try a little of each. We have found that they are more open-minded about trying new things when there is a veggie they like on the table too.

A few things that you probably NEVER want to do…….

• Never force your child to eat an entire serving of a veggie that they do not like. It’s frustrating for you both and I have found that they are less open about new veggies if you force one on them.
• Never use a veggie as a punishment threat. Okay, this sounds funny, but I did this.

Picture this, I’m at the grocery store with two wild-things. They are running amuck. I (in the past) have been guilty of picking up a can of beets and telling them if they do not behave the beets are coming home with us. To be a main dinner feature. Yep, I did that. More than once. *sigh* So, it’s no surprise that it has been hard to get my kids to eat beets. You know, because I made them seem like a punishment.

So, don’t make veggies a punishment. Learn from my mistakes. Ha!

How do you get your kids to eat veggies?

Garden Gab, week 21….a cool down, a loss and a nursery rhyme

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row,
And pretty maids all in a row.

That’s how the nursery rhyme goes, however I was disturbed when I looked up the meaning of the rhyme. It’s about Queen Mary, torture and executions.

While torture would accurately describe the weather here in Texas the last month or so, it does not really describe gardening at all does it?

Or maybe it does.

No, No, No…..I love gardening. I love the beautiful green plants. I love planting a seed and watching it grow into a beautiful plant. I love knowing I am growing things that help to feed my family and friends.

Bugs and heat be damned, I love gardening.

Anyhoo.

My garden is doing well……..

The okra is blooming and blooming. I’ve got tons of little okra-ettes.

The new bean plants are doing very well, green and blooming and lovely.

My mint is surviving the heat.

The carrots are still growing.

I lost my green pepper plant to the extreme heat, but the Hot peppers are doing well.

Strawberrytopia is still expanding. I think the strawberries would be happy to take over the entire raised garden! They don’t produce many strawberries, but they sure do spread quickly.

The squash seedlings are still surviving the heat. I failed to take a picture of them though.

Speaking of heat, it got cooler Thursday. The wind blew. It felt nicer outside.

It smelled like rain.

Best. Smell. Ever.

It did not rain, but it was noticeably cooler. The 102+ degree heat we’ve been experiencing is brutal, so any coolness is exciting to me.

How is your garden growing?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll be back on Monday!

Garden Gab Week 20…Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

The weather here is HOT, that’s not a shocker or a secret.

Today is the 35th day in a row that the temperature is expected to hit 100 deg F or higher.  Today is expected to be 107 deg F.   In fact my entire 7 day outlook is 100 deg F or higher.  Meh.

The heat is a melt-y kind of heat, it’s not easy to be outside for very long.

My sister-in-love and her sons baked cookies and melted crayons in their car.  Fun right? They used the windshield to magnify the sun.  They also tried frying an egg on the sidewalk.

The yards are really suffering.  Most of the yards in my neighborhood are partly crispy and dying , we  just can not keep them watered well enough to help them survive.   The ground is cracking, my fence posts are wobbly (which is quite distressing), my yard is green only in stripes.  I am focusing my watering efforts around my home’s foundation, my driveway, and of course my garden areas.

It’s crazy.

My neighbor’s driveway cracked in half!  I kid you not!

Picture proof!

Oh noes! Cracked driveway...not cool.

Isn’t that shocking?  I can tell you,  it’s been a topic on much conversation in my neighborhood.  Many people have begun to water not only their foundations, but now…also their driveways.  I was already watering my driveway (whew!), but I have stepped it up.

Shocking!

You know what else is a shocker, the funky bell peppers have turned lovely shades of yellow and red.

Guess what folks, they’re hot!

Like supa-dupa spicy hot,  like oh heck “where’s my drink?!” hot.  Hot. 

My neighbors, family and friends who like hot peppers are in luck this summer…I’m going to be spreading these hot beauties around.  I canned the first batch and gave them to my neighbor over the weekend.

Hello hot stuff....

The okra is still loving the heat.  Here are a few pictures of the okra flowers, they’re so pretty.

     

My royal purple beans are starting to bloom…YAY!

         

My late season squash seedlings are doing very well.  They are surviving the heat much better than I expected.

    

Strawberrytopia is still in expansion mode, the heat is really not halting their progress.

The mint is still holding it’s own.

I forgot to take a picture of the carrots, but they are still doing well.  They’re still small, but they’re hanging on.

How is your garden doing?

See you Monday!