Cheesy Goodness

I wanted to serve something alongside my beef stew. I wanted to be a little more jazzy than just dumplings though, so I thought about biscuits. But not just any biscuits. I wanted something with a little more pizazz. So, I turned to my trusty recipe website: http://www.allrecipes.com/

I found a cheddar biscuit recipe that only took four ingredients. I had them all on hand, so what the heck?! The best part is that the recipe only makes five biscuit cups, so you won't have a ton of leftovers.

These turned out well. They have a crispy outside and a warm gooey inside. The only thing I would do differently would be to add some spices, like garlic powder, and maybe some parsley or other herbs.

These biscuit cups would go well with soup or chili or any other recipe that needs a bread side.

Cheddar Biscuit Cups

from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

1 cup self-rising flour *

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

In a small bowl, combine the flour and the cheese. Stir in milk and mayonnaise until just moistened. Fill five greased muffin cups two-thirds full. Fill empty muffin cups halfway with water. Bake at 425 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown.

If you don't have self-rising flour, use regular flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt.

Thank You Paula Deen

A couple of weeks ago, my husband mentioned that he wanted me to make beef stew. I am not a fan of beef stew. I am not sure why. I just have never found a stew that I particularly liked. But, the things we do for love. I decided to make him a good beef stew. Stew is something that I would consider "southern" cooking. Don't ask me why. So, I consulted the Bible of southern cooking: Paula Deen. My mom gave me her cookbook for Christmas, and I hadn't ever made any of the recipes. Maybe it's the two sticks of butter in every recipe that made me leery. However, I found a stew recipe and decided to try it.


I don't think I made it correctly. First off, I think I cooked it too high. By the time it was done cooking, there was no broth left. I wasn't able to thicken the sauce, because there WAS no sauce. Oh well, live and learn. I know what to do next time. Second, I have no idea where the onions went. It's almost like they went to the same land that your mismatched socks from the dryer go. They literally disappeared.

Don't let me lack of stew making skills scare you. This was delicious! I just wish my husband was able to eat some of it. I slaved over the stove for a better part of the day, and the poor guy has food poisoning. Normally, he would eat a lot. But tonight, he had zero, nothing. I don't think he could even stomach toast right now. Oh well, more for me!


So, I thank you Paula Deen. This beef stew recipe was lovely. You have changed my mind about hating beef stew.

Old-Time Beef Stew
from: The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook


2 pounds stew beef
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
dash of ground allspice or ground cloves
3 large carrots, sliced
4 red potatoes, quartered
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots, potatoes, and celery. Cover and cook 30 to 40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.

Beware: Healthy Recipe Ahead

I have been wanting to get back into healthy eating again. Several years ago, I lost almost 50 pounds on Weight Watchers. An engagement, new job, wedding, and married life have all caught up with me. I am starting to put on some pounds. So! Back to healthy eating and exercising!

One staple of my healthy eating is my vegetable soup. I can't really claim it as mine. It's really the Weight Watchers claim to fame, however, I have made some adaptations. Mine has different veggies in it. I like all kinds of veggies, but rather than spend a fortune on Swiss Chard, I substitute baby spinach. Well, you'll see.

This is a great lunch item. I usually pair it with a salad or even a half a sandwich. You get tons of vitamins and minerals and all that healthy junk. If you are not a veggie lover, I don't suggest you read much further.

This is very easy to make, and can be changed up a million different ways. I have to have tomatoes in virtually everything I eat, so I add a can of diced tomatoes. I use chicken broth in place of the vegetable broth for two reasons: 1) it's cheaper and 2) it has less calories. Who knew?

I will post the WW version and my version.

Have fun with this! Invent your own combination of veggies and spices. And eat a second bowl. After all, it's healthy.

Weight Watchers Vegetable Soup

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1 medium sweet red pepper, diced

1 medium celery stalk, diced

2 small zucchini, diced

2 cups Swiss Chard, chopped

2 cups cauliflower, small florets

2 cups broccoli, small florets

2 teaspoons thyme, fresh, chopped

6 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons parsley, fresh, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, optional

1. Put garlic, vegetables, thyme and broth into a large soup pot. Cover and bring to a bowl over high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes.

2. Stir in parsley; season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Pachey's Version

2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, diced
4 cups Normandy vegetable mix, frozen - don't thaw. The Normandy mix has carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower.
3 cups baby spinach
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, or to taste
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspooon crushed red pepper flakes

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

1. Put all the ingredients in the pot, with the exception of the spinach. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in spinach and cook an additional 2 minutes or until spinach starts to wilt.

My Poor Husband

My husband is getting really tired of me trying out new recipes. If that weren't bad enough, he is getting even more tired of recipes that are made in the crockpot. I am not sure what he has against the crockpot, but he is a little leery of it. 99% of the time the results turn out well. Okay, except for that coagulated mess of a bean and biscuit recipe. And, maybe one or two other times. And let's not mention the time I overcooked pasta in it. That was pretty gnarly.

Anyways, I am a big pasta lover. Give me a big heaping bowl of pasta with nothing on it and I am happy. If you throw in a piece of bread, even better (healthy right?)! I wanted to try out a chunky spaghetti sauce and my best friend let me borrow her Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook (which is awesome by the way) which had about 12 good sauce recipes.

When this was done cooking, it resembled the American Chop Suey I blogged about a few weeks ago. This was very hearty, and if you substitute ground turkey or extra lean ground beef, it would be a very healthy recipe too. All those vegetables are good for you! I added a little extra seasoning in my version. Just a little extra garlic powder, Italian Seasoning and red pepper flakes. I also used canned tomatoes, because I am lazy and didn't want to seed and cut up three pounds of tomatoes.

Of course, we had bread with this. I am a carb addict, what do you expect?

Nancy's Spaghetti Sauce

from: Fix-It and Forget-It

1/4 cup minced onion

garlic powder to taste

3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, or 28oz. can diced tomatoes with juice

6 ounce can tomato paste

3 1/2 teaspoons salt

dash of pepper

1 basil leaf

1 chopped green pepper

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained

4 ounce can sliced mushrooms

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on low 3 hours.

The Family Spaghetti Sauce

The family spaghetti sauce is a recipe that has been passed down from my grandfather. He got the recipe from an Italian family, so it's an authentic concoction. In our family, everyone requests this for their birthday dinner. It's a huge treat, and one pot lasts a long time.

My mother would kill me if I posted the actual recipe, so instead, here is a picture of the finished product, and a similar recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/

Italian Gravy

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 pounds pork shoulder roast
1/2 cup white wine
3 cups water
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 (28 ounce) cans tomato puree
6 cups water
1/4 cup white sugar

1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until lightly browned. Place pork shoulder in pot, and pour in 1/2 cup white wine and 3 cups water. In a small bowl, combine oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sprinkle 1/4 of spice mixture over pork. Cover, and cook for 30 minutes turning occasionally. Add water periodically if needed.

2. Pour in tomato puree. Fill cans with water, and pour in (about 6 cups). Stir in remaining spice mixture and the sugar. When liquid starts to bubble, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 4 to 5 hours. Stir occasionally, and adjust seasonings to taste.

It's Fall, Continued

The fall themed food didn't stop there however. I followed up with Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I got this recipe from someone on the Nest.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, canola oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk, and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

2. Add vanilla and chocolate chips.

3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

The Chicken Legend

This recipe is a bit of a legend. I frequent a website called thenest.com. All the ladies on the What's Cooking board rave about these chicken thighs. My Memere, bless her heart, can't pronounce t-h's, so she would call these "Chicken Ties".

Trust the cooking time in this recipe. It doesn't seem long enough to cook the chicken meat, but it really well. You will result in juicy, flavorful chicken. The recipe is from Cooking Light, so you don't have to feel guilty about eating them.

These are a favorite in our house, and with some couscous and green beans, they make a very quick and easy meal.

Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken Thighs

from Cooking Light

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

6 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1. Preheat broiler

2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken to bowl and toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.

3. Combine the honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on the chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 minute or until chicken is done.