Late Night Chocolate Chip Cookies (1:30 am 07/29/2009)

Hey ya'll! So I can't sleep and I got a sudden urge to bake. So I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies. I'm not gonna eat any tonight, but I just felt like baking them. What kind of southern girl would I be if I didn't have cookies in the cookie jar? Right? 

So here is what I did:

 1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 TBSP butter, softened

1 cup Ghirardelli chocolate chips (the slightly bigger kind)

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (but I used 3/4 tsp of vanilla that my mom got from Mexico. You don't need as much)

2 eggs

1/2 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside

Cream butter and sugar in mixer. 

Add eggs, flour mixture and chocolate chips.

Mix with a large spoon until well blended. 

Cover with saran-wrap and put in freezer until firm (I would say for about 20 to 25 minutes)

Make small balls (about 1 inch). Roll in confectioners sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 to 15 minutes. After 10 minutes I left them in for about 5, 1 minute intervals until they were done. 

Alrighty folks, that is my late night baking blog lol. Good night and good eating (tomorrow :) )

Chicken Spaghetti w/ Elbow Macaroni Pasta

Hey ya'll. Tonight was a very simple dinner. I spent about 6 hours cleaning the house today, so I was pooped. But it was yummy. It was chicken spaghetti with elbow noodles instead of spaghetti noodles. I pan seared a chicken breast, shredded it, added it to some already simmering spaghetti sauce (a typical 25 ounce bottle). I like to but the plainest sauce I can get so that I can season it the way that I like. I like a lot of oregano. I love oregano lol.

I should probably explain the steps I used lol

Sear 2 chicken breasts in a pan over medium to medium high heat. Season chicken (before cooking) with salt, pepper and T.C. - to taste. 

While chicken is cooking, put sauce into a medium sauce pan. Season with salt, pepper, T.C. and lot of oregano lol. Heat on medium heat until it starts to bubble. Lower to medium low. Continue to simmer. 

When the chicken is done, put noodles to boil, season slightly with salt.

Shred chicken and put it in the sauce. Continue to simmer. 

Once noodles are done, drain them and turn off the burner with the sauce. 

It's all done! Put the sauce over the noodles and enjoy. 

Cook vegetable of your choice. 

Alrighty folks, there you have it. A simple dinner that does not take long! Goodnight and good eating! :)

Another kind of oven-fried chicken. MMM! 07/27/2009

Hey ya'll. I'm back to cooking! YAY! Tonight dinner was awesome. I cooked a bit later than I typically would because I spent all day cleaning the kitchen raw lol. It gets so hot here, that I have to have the windows and backdoor open, so all these little annoying flies get in if I don't keep the kitchen in tip-top shape! I don't like flies! So, gotta keep the kitchen up to parr! As always, as I was cleaning, Bella was barking lol!!! She HATES the broom! As I was sweeping she was going crazy! She didn't even go that crazy while I was vacuuming. I KNOW! Dogs hate vacuums! Now that our vacuum is fixed (it was broken and wasn't sucking up) the carpet looks a lot better lol and the rug looks great! I love a clean house! Mess is such a stress-maker. Bella attacks the swiffer, but I didn't swiffer today. I used a good ole mop. She didn't have a problem with that lol. I guess because that doesn't make any noise. Anyhoo, on to the food!

The chicken!!!!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups flour (season with salt, pepper, T.C. and garlic powder, to taste)

Egg Wash: 2 eggs, add about 1/4 cup of milk, mix very well.  add a little bit of salt and pepper

1 package (not box, package) of crushed up saltines

1 stick of mozzarella string cheese

1/4 of a jalapeno, chopped finely 

Put each chicken breast (one at a time) between 2 big pieces of saran-wrap. Make sure all the edges are stuck together and sealed well. Take a meat mallet and pound the chicken pretty thin (using a smooth side, not point side). Peel top layer of saran wrap off. Place half of the stick of cheese at the edge of the chicken. Sprinkle half of the chopped of jalapeno around the cheese. Season the upside of the chicken with salt, pepper and T.C. just to taste. Roll the chicken, and then tuck the ends under. (Repeat with 2nd piece of chicken)

Place both on a plate and put in the fridge for about 10 or 15 mins (to let it set so it doesn't all come apart.)

While chicken is in the fridge, put the flour in a medium size bowl. The egg wash in another kinda smaller, but deep bowl, and the crushed saltines in a medium size bowl. 

When chicken is set, roll in the flour, then drench in egg wash, then roll in the crackers until completely covered. Place on a greased oven pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. 

It was so wonderfully yummy, tender and juicy! I also cooked some spaghetti noodles and put butter on them. I also steamed some corn on the cob. There were 4 tiny corn on the cobs in a bag that you just steam in the microwave for about 6 1/2 minutes. 

It was all so wonderful. The only fattening part would have been the butter. So it was yummy food, with not a lot of "nastiness" that most of the food you have seen me cook lol! 

So folks, try it. It's de-LISH-US! :-D Good night and good eating! :)

Haven't blogged in a few days

Hey ya'll. Sorry about the lack of blogging the last few nights! One night I had dinner at a friend's house (it was awesome). Then the next night my mom and I went to Olive Garden, and let me tell you! I had the best dinner ever! Mushroom Ravioli covered in a sun dried tomato smoked cheese sause. It was wonderful! And last night we ate left overs. I will try to cook tonight. We are going to my mom's friend's house for her daughter's birthday, so maybe not. But if not tonight, tomorrow for sure! My mom hit up the grocery store pretty hard today, so I have lot's o' stuff to cook now! But she didn't buy ground beef. I was like really? But that's ok. We have plenty of other stuff! Alrighty folks, tune in tomorrow to see if I cooked tonight. If I don't cook tonight, I will certainly cook tomorrow night!!! :-D Much love!

Pot Roast 07/22/2009

Hey ya'll! Sorry I didn't post this until so late. I had to start painting the living room so my mom can put the house on the market. I didn't go all out, yet again. I've been pretty busy for a jobless person lol! I had a beef roast. I cut slits periodically on the roast, and stuffed garlic in the slits. I seasoned all sides of the roast with sea salt, pepper and cayenne pepper (I'm out to T.C. right now). Put in a roasting pan and fill with water, half way up the roast. In the water I put some more minced garlic and some carrots. I put it in the oven on 325 degrees for 2 hours.  It was simple, but yummy! 

Now, the best way to cook a roast is in a crockpot. But our crock pot got broken when my mom took it to work. The roast turned out yummy, but not very tender. If you cook it in a crock pot all day, it will fill your home with a great aroma and will just fall apart and be soooo very tender and wonderful! 

Well folks, I am very tired and need to hit the hay. Goodnight and good eating! :)

Didn't do dinner last night, but I'm not following Jaime's blog!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy? Good!!! :-D I was busy busy busy yesterday. Well not THAT busy lol. But I didn't have time to make dinner last night. I had left over porcupines. I plan to make dinner tonight though. So kids, tune in tonight! 

Salad with Chicken :) 07/20/2009

Hey ya'll! Tonight was the simplest meal so far! But it was delicious. I have been craving salad like crazy! And this morning my mom suggested that we have something light tonight, such as a salad. That sounded great since it was quick and easy and I had lots to do to register for classes! Which I am VERY excited about by the way. The culinary class that I'll be taking this semester is called Center of the Plate. It's just another good ole cooking class. And I am taking my 4th semester of French!!! YAY! I'm really quite excited! Only gonna go part time because I have to get a job! Ya'll keep your fingers crossed that I do get to work at Noodles and Company again! It's the best job in the world! Alrighty, on to the food!!!

1 chicken breast

Cook it in a cast iron skillet on medium high heat. Once it looks well cooked on the outside (it probably will not be cooked on the inside), cut into long slices. Cook the slices until they are white :). Then cut the slices into halves. 

Now, you can make the salad however you like, but this is how I made it. It was for just my mom and myself. So add more of everything (including chicken) if you are feeding more. 

I put ice-burg lettuce, cut up some celery and sliced 2 hard boiled eggs. Then I put the cut up chicken on top and mixed it all together. 

I like very simple salads. I don't like tomatoes, onions, peppers or any of that on my salad. I like cucumbers on my salad, but I didn't have any tonight. 

I also baked some crescent rolls! YUM! I LOVE crescent rolls! 

So yes, that was dinner tonight! I had peppercorn ranch dressing. My mom had raspberry vinaigrette. 

Alrighty folks, that's all! Goodnight and good eating! :)

Southern Fried Chicken and Mac-N-Cheese 07/19/2009

Hey ya'll! Tonight was a bit of a challenge. I have never been very good at frying chicken. But I have never really done it right. But I saw a recipe and it worked. I did it a tiny bit different, so I will tell you what I did. It turned out really really good! Oh, and of course, Bella (my dog) was laying at the edge of the kitchen. When the chicken was done she was trying to be sneaky lol. 

On to the food:

1 whole chicken, cut up. (Buy it already cut up. So much easier!)

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups flour

Approx 2 tbsp sea salt

1 tbs black pepper

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp Tony Chachere's

Wet Ingredients:

2 large eggs

2 cups milk (or buttermilk. I didn't have buttermilk)

3/4 cup BBQ sauce

1 tbsp Soy Sauce

Bring a large (tall) pot of water to boil. Once boiling well, add all pieces of chicken. Boil for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all dry ingredients in large bowl.

In a seperate large bowl, combine wet ingredients

After 5 mins, remove chicken from water. 

Dip each piece (one at a time) in milk mixture, then flour mixture, then milk mixture again, and flour mixture again. 

Heat 2 cup vegetable oil on medium high in large cast iron skillet, to about 375 degrees (i just eye it. When it looks hot, drizzle a tiny bit of flour and listen to see if it sizzles.)

Place chicken in hot oil and fry about 10 minutes on each side. (you might want to turn the heat down just a tad. Between medium and medium high)

After all chicken is done (I had to do 3 rounds. The breasts and 1 leg. Then the thighs, a wing and a leg. Then the last wing), place on a baking pan and put in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or so. Maybe 20, depending on your oven).

The chicken was SO flavorful! It was great!

And again, I did boxed mac-n-cheese. I actually don't have any cheese right now lol. So that's why I didn't do homemade. 

Green beans go very well with this. And maybe some dinner rolls. YUM! 

Well folks, I hope that if you try this, you enjoy it! I know we did! 

Goodnight and good eating! :)

Porcupines!!! 07/18/2009

Hey ya'll! Dinner last night was so good, I ate some left overs for lunch today! And I don't like left overs very much. But I'm not a waster, so if there are leftovers, I'll maybe freeze em! But tonight I made one of my absolute favorite dishes from when I was a kid! Porcupines! For those of you that don't know, porcupines are meatballs with rice in them. Not the actual animal! lol! There are several different ways to make porcupines, but here's how I made them...

1 pound lean ground beef

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1/2 cup water

salt, pepper, Tony Chachere's and garlic powder. 

Mix all ingredients together. It will be kinda watery and weird, but it's okay! Roll into meatballs (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches). Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Place meat balls in the skillet and cook on medium heat heat until browned. If you use as lean of beef as you can find, you shouldn't have to drain grease.

Once browned, add about 2 cups of spaghetti sauce, another 1/2 cup of water, and 2 teaspoons of worcestershire sauce. Turn heat down to between low and medium-low and simmer for about 40 minutes. 

About 20 minutes before they meatballs are done simmering, start to boil some salted water for noodles. Boil spaghetti noodles until tender, drain. 

Eat like good ole spaghetti and meatballs. Just, the meatballs have rice in them. It is SOOO delicious! 

The veggie was green beans (frozen, not canned...eventhough I prefer canned. But my mom likes frozen). I cooked them in a little bit of water (just enough to cover the bottom of the small cast iron skillet), about 8 minutes. Then seasoned them with salt and T.C. 

I hope ya'll will try this one! I really think it would be a hit! We all know that spaghetti is one of the cheapest dishes to make. This was spaghetti and meatballs with a twist :). Alrighty folks, I'm out for now :). Goodnight and good eating! 

"Gourmet" Oven-baked chicken with pasta and cream sauce 7/17/2009

Hey ya'll! So I went through my Louisiana cookbook and found an AWESOME recipe! It was just about the best chicken ever! All day I was thinking that I was craving sour cream, and wanted to cook something with sour cream in it. And then I saw this recipe!!! It tasted better than it sounds! I also saw a recipe for simple cream sauce, and thought it would be good over pasta! So here it is

The Chicken:

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter

1/2 pint (1 cup) of sour cream

1/2 tsp tarragon

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

Crushed up Corn Flakes (it calls for 1 cup, but I used more than that)

4 chicken breasts. 

Melt butter in a 9 inch square pan. Set aside

Put the crushed corn flakes in another medium size bowl. 

Medium sized bowl, combine sour cream, tarragon, thyme, paprika, garlic powder and salt. Mix it up. Dip the chicken breasts into the mixture, then roll into the cornflakes, covering the entire breast. Place in the pan with the melted butter. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. 

About 30 minutes before the chicken is done put some water in a saucepan for the pasta (start to heat it on medium low, so it doesn't start to boil). Then start the cream sauce. 

4 tablespoons Butter

4 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

This yields about 1 cup, could feel probably about 2 or 3 people, depending on how much they like sauce lol. And it's pretty thick

Melt the butter over medium low heat. Blend in flour and salt. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly!! Cook until thick and smooth. ( should take about 10 minutes. I like to use a whisk). 

After it is done, remove from heat and turn up the heat on the water. Add the pasta and boil it until it's tender. The pasta SHOULD be done around the same time as the chicken. 

Put the sauce over the pasta and mix it up. Or, if you want, you can put it over the chicken. That would be yummy too! 

I also cooked some sugar snap peas. You can cook any veggie that you want. 

It all turned out really well! Very very tasty and flavorful!

Ya'll should try this one! It was really really good! 

I don't have anything else too exciting to say lol. So Goodnight and good eating! 

Fried Pork Chops and Buttered Noodles 7/16/2009

Hey ya'll! Again tonight, nothing extraordinary. But it was really good! I don't like pork chops, but I thought what they hey! I'll do this anyway! And it turned out really quite delicious! Alrighty, before I start watching one of the best movies ever, let me blog :)

I cooked 2 pork chops (one for me and one for mom)

After I defrosted the pork chops,  i seasoned them with salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere's to taste, covered them in plastic wrap and let them sit for about 15 minutes. 

Put one cup of cooking oil in a cast iron skillet, and heat on medium-high heat. 

Meanwhile:

In a plastic baggie (a big one) I put about 1/2 cup of flour, salt and pepper to taste and Tony Chachere's to taste. (those are my seasonings that go in EVERYTHING...well not sweet stuff lol)

Then I put one pork chop in at a time and shake it around until it is fully coated with the flour mixture. When the oil is really hot, shake excess flour off of the pork chops and place them in the oil. Fry about 5 minutes on each side. The inside should be white (but pork has a tiny hint of pink, but not much). 

Before heating the oil, I put some egg noodles to boil in salted water. When they are tender, drain them and serve them with butter. 

I cooked green beans as well. Most people might think that I'm crazy, but I prefer canned green beans rather than frozen green beans. 

Another simple dinner, but it was one of my favorite dinners growing up. The only thing missing was the oven toasted french bread with butter on it.

And then for dessert I made a simple cake. Again, not from scratch tonight. I baked the bake (in 2 8 inch round pans). While it was cooling I made some instant chocolate pudding. When it was completely cooled, I just plopped em' about of the pans and spread a liberal layer of pudding between them. 

Well folks, that's all! Goodnight and good eating!

Suggestions Maybe....?

Hey ya'll! I think it would be neat if ya'll gave me some suggestions about stuff to cook. I want to be able to make stuff that other people like, so if someone gives me some suggestions, I can try it out! Come on folks! Bring on the suggestions so that I can make YOUR favorite meal! Thanks :-D

Dessert Time 7/16/2009

Hey ya'll! Posting an extra blog today :). We have never been much of dessert people, but occasionally doesn't hurt. I was thinking I would make dessert for tonight. I prefer salty stuff, but my mom LOVES chocolate, so I thought I would make a chocolate cake with chocolate pudding in the middle. And yes, I'll be cheating again. I'm not feeling tip-top today, so I am not gonna make the cake from scratch. But one day soon, I'll make a cake from scratch for ya'll! I'll go get started on it now, and blog about it when I blog about dinner. Thanks!!!

Brown Sugar Honey Glazed Ham and Au gratin potatoes 7/15/2009

Hey ya'll! First of all, thank you to all the people that have followed my blog so far! It's greatly appreciated! Again today, I didn't cook anything extravagant. Long day. Went to the hospital to see Erika and her new baby, Emma Rayne. I couldn't see her up close because she was 4 weeks early (thought it was 3, but it's 4), and she is in NICU. Tiny little thing with really dark hair. Adorable. 

On to the food...

1 salt cured ham (not a HUGE ham...about medium size)

about 1/4 cup of honey

break apart about 2 tbsp brown sugar (more or less, whatever you prefer.) Again, Im more of a "wing-it" kinda girl. 

Add brown sugar to honey, mix until well mixed (who woulda thunk it, right?), to make the glaze. Brush the glaze liberally all over the ham. (Make more if you need to). Place ham on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. 

Remove ham from the oven.

Again, I cheated at the Au Gratin Potatoes. (you will notice that I am a potato fanatic.)

Used a box of Au Gratin Potatoes. They are pretty much all the same, so choose your favorite brand and follow the directions. In this case, I had to bake them for 30 to 35 mins at 400 degrees. So just crank up the heat, let the oven get to 400, stick the potatoes in. After 30 minutes, I put the ham back in the oven and cooked it, along with the potatoes, for another 3 minutes. And, as usual, Bella was laying at the edge of the kitchen just hoping to get a chance to sneak a bite of something lol. 

I decided to play with her a little bit while the ham was baking. She does not like the vacuum, the broom or the Swiffer. She especially HATES that Swiffer. She could be laying outside by the backdoor (which is by the kitchen), and if I start to sweep, she will run in and bark uncontrollably at it. If I put the broom by her face, she will bite it. But the Swiffer...WOAH! If I am swiffering, she will run up to it and attack it, like try to take it away from me. She doesn't like when we clean the floors lol. Just thought I would add that little tid bit in there. I think it's cute. 

Anyhoo...Simple, easy, and yummy. Not the healthiest meal in the world, but hey, this isn't Chasity Falgout Health Food Blog LOL! Hmmm, probably SHOULD be, buuuut... :)

Again, another late blog entry. Just about time for bed. Oh, who am I kidding? I always stay up late. Nice thought though! Enjoy! Good night and good eating.

Crawfish Stew/Gumbo 7/14/2009

Hey ya'll! So I'm not a fan of seafood, but I will cook it for anyone. My mom had a potluck at work today so late last night I made a pot of crawfish stew for her. I added a little too much water, so it turned out more like a gumbo. But it's the exact same concept, just gumbo is watery instead of thick. My "kitchen assistant", Bella, was in bed, so she wasn't there to keep me company. But that's okay! Here we go....

1 medium onion (finely chopped)

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 mini bell peppers

Chop the veggies up! put in a bowl and set them by the stove so that you can add them into the roux

1 bay leaf

2 tsp seafood boil

save these til after you put the water in the pot

salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and Tony Chachere's (of course!)

put a small amount of the seasonings after you put the water. Remember, not much. You want to add more when the stew is almost DONE!

2 packs of already peeled crawfish

I put about 4 cups of water probably. Didn't really measure, just eyed it. 

Make the roux: 1/2 cup cooking oil (get it really hot, on medium high heat) then add 1/2 flour. stir CONSTANTLY until it is a milk chocolate brown color. while the roux is cooking, turn the heat down just a tad. When the roux is brown, add the veggies. Cooking (stirring just about constantly) for about 2 minutes.

Add water, seafood boil, bay leaf and the small amount of seasonings. Turn heat down to medium and cook for an hour. Keep an eye on it, stirring every so often. After it has been cooking an hour, add the crawfish and cook for about 20 more minutes. 

When the stew ("gumbo") is almost done, cook some instant rice (however much you want) and serve it over the rice. 

Pretty simple. Not a difficult dish at all. You see, the stuff that takes a while to cook, that has to sit for a while, you can relax! 

Well, I am off to make dinner for tonight! I will be back on later and tell you what I did! Thanks for droppin in! Good night and good eating! 

Simple Dinner for Kids

Hey ya'll! Well, today my best friend Erika had her baby! She was a few weeks early so I was at her house watching their already 4 kids, so I made dinner for them. It was nothing big, just burgers and mac'n'cheese. I cheated though...it was BOXED mac'n'cheese. I know, I know! lol. The downside is that I didn't get to spend any time with my Bella today. But that's okay, Erika had a baby girl. She was 5lbs 6 oz. She is doing just fine :). At least she is okay! 

On to the food!

Homemade Burgers (not frozen pre-made!)

1 pound ground beef

1/4 cup of finely chopped onions

salt, freshly ground pepper, tony chachere's, and seasoned salt to taste.

Mix it all up, slap it into a patty and put it in the pan! (grilled is always better, but this is what I had to work with. Still turned out really good.)

Then the good ole box mac'n'cheese. 

Like I said, nothing fancy. But it was for the kiddos. And it was a very quick and easy meal. Took MAYBE 20 minutes at the very most! 

I am about to make a Crawfish stew for my mom to take to work tomorrow. She works in the ER at one of the hospitals here in Colorado Springs, and sometimes they do potlucks. But it's all good. I love to cook. I don't mind being up til probably almost 1 am cooking. (I really don't mind it. I love it!) I will either post my blog about the stew tonight or in the morning sometime. Gotta go to the hospital tomorrow to see Erika and the baby!

Alrighty ya'll.  Good night and good eating! 

Homemade Beef Stew, Homemade Mashed (cream) Potatoes and Steamed Zucchini! July 13th 2009

Hey ya'll! Posting the blog a little late, sorry about that. So, tonight dinner was AWESOME! I made homemade beef stew, homemade "taters" and I steamed some zucchini... had to add a little healthy in there :). And of course my lovely "kitchen assistant" Bella (my Bernese Mountain Dog), was looking at me with her sad little eyes as if she were saying "Please, may I have some?" Such a sweetheart! Doesn't get on the counters, but lays at the edge of the kitchen the whole time I'm cooking. I almost want to get an apron for her lol! So I'll tell ya'll what I did! Here goes...

To start, have your mise en place (meez-in-plaz). That is a culinary term for "Everything in place." It is very important to have everything prepared when making a meal! 

 

First chop up the veggies!

Veggies needed for the stew: 

1 1/2 medium russet potatoes, keep the skin on (wash and chop 2, set half of one aside...covered in the fridge). Chop them in slices about 1/2 in thick, then quarter them (cut them into 4's)

 2 regular size carrots (wash them). Slice circles about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick

2 celery stalks (wash and peel the "hairs" as I like to call them, off). Slice about 1/4 inch slices. 

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped. 

1 tbs minced garlic. 

The meat: 

1 pound of stew meat. Have it ready!

Let's get started on the roux.

1/2 cup cooking oil (canola or vegetable oil)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

- In a cast iron dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat until HOT! Then add the flour and stir CONSTANTLY to avoid burning, until the roux has turned a chocolate brown color (not dark chocolate! milk chocolate!) Once the roux is the chocolate brown color, add the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute. Add the meat, along with salt and pepper to taste, and Tony Chachere's (outstandingly wonderful cajun seasoning)... sprinkle it over the top of the meat, not a whole lot. Cook until the meat is just browned (about 5 minutes or so. just watch it to make sure). Then we add the celery, carrots and potatoes. And lastly, add 2 2/3 cups of cold water. Stir it all together. Let it start to boil slightly, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Now, you have to keep a pretty good eye on it because it will thicken. You do not want it to be TOO thick too soon. So add small amounts of water periodically throughout the 2 hours when it starts to really reduce and get thick (usually about 2 or 3 times). When the 2 hours are almost up, sneak a little taste to make sure that the veggies and meat are all tender. If they are, then the stew is just about done! All you have to do is add more salt, pepper and T.C., along with a little TINY bit of garlic powder if you wish, until it tastes good to YOU. You do not want to add ALL of the seasoning in the beginning because the stew will reduce, but the seasoning will not. So, in turn, you may end up with stew a little saltier than you would like. Now we wouldn't want that would we?? 

Meanwhile... while the stew is cooking, I like to play around with Bella. She is still a puppy. A big ole puppy, but a puppy (6 months, about 60 to 65 pounds). So she is gianormous (is that even a real word?) and still has tons of energy! She loves ice by the way! I can get her to do just about anything for a piece of ice. She is definitely my mom's dog! (they both love to chew ice.) OH! My mom is anemic, so that is why you will frequently see me using cast iron cook wear, so that she can get the extra iron. Plus, cast iron is the best! I LOVE IT!

Back to the food :)... When the stew has about 40 minutes left, get started on the taters! 

You will need:

5 or 6 medium russet potatoes. Wash em', peel em' and chop em' just like we did for the stew. 1/2 inch thick slices, then quarter. Place them all in a large saucepan, with a little bit o' salt. Boil until they are tender (I would say about 20 or 30 minutes. LoL, I'm more of a "wing-it" kinda girl.) You will know when they are tender. Drain them. While they are still hot, put them in a large mixing bowl that fits your electric mixer. Add about about 1/4 cup butter (it will melt because the potatoes are so hot, so BE CAREFUL!). Mix on low speed for about 20 seconds, to break them up. Turn mixer off, add about 1/2 cup of milk and turn on medium speed until the potatoes start to get a little creamy. I like to turn the speed up a bit to the "creaming" setting. As we call them back home in Louisiana "cream potatoes".  Add milk in small amounts until YOUR desired creaminess is reached. (I personally LOVE them creamy!) You may also add more butter as desired. As they say "the best foods are the worst foods" LOL! 

Now, we've gotta work quickly! While the potatoes are still boiling, wash and slice 3 large zucchinis (however you like to slice them). Season them with salt, pepper and T.C. to taste. You will notice that everyone from cajun country uses Tony Chachere's. Steam them in the steamer for about 15 to 20 minutes (or until tender). 

Now, take breaks while doing the taters and the veggies to check on the stew! Don't forget to add small amounts of water every so often! Don't worry, it's gonna thicken up again!

When everything is just about done, get to the rice. Using instant rice is most convenient with this meal, because it is fast and no work at all. 

Just bring 4 cups of water to a boil (with a dash of salt), then add 4 cups of instant rice. Stir, take off the burner and let it set for 5 minutes (or longer if you are still cooking). 

Serve the stew over the rice, dish up some of those delightful taters and zucchini! Voila! There you have it! An awesome, delicious home cooked meal that will feed about 5 people. For us it fed 3 grown women, one GROWING teenage girl and a 23 year old guy (boys usually eat a lot LOL! Gotta love em'!) Now, don't try to go for a run or swimming right after eating this! It fills ya up well! 

I hope ya'll think this sounds good! And please, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let me know! 

Thanks for reading my blog, good night and good eating! 

Introduction about Chasity

Hey ya'll! My name is Chasity Falgout! I'm originally from Southeast Louisiana! I currently live in Colorado, but soon to be Nashville Tennessee! But I'm always a Cajun girl at heart! I LOVE to cook! Especially comfort foods! Since being laid off from my job, I have been making dinner every night. So, I thought I would blog about it each night! I will put pictures up as soon as I am able! I love country music and I always have my playlist going while I cook. I will do my first cooking blog tonight after I am done with dinner! And I will blog each night that I cook thereafter. I hope you will all read it and I sure do hope it all sounds good to everyone! And if it does, I hope you will follow in my footsteps and make the best comfort foods in the US! And if you have ANY questions, please do not hesitate to ask! Thanks!!!