How to make...

Cheese Grits!

Are you ready for one of the easiest, most delicious side dishes?

Cheesy goodness is almost yours to have!!  Too bad I failed to post this before the 4th, or you could have had the winning side dish for your 4th of July party!

Behold.....Cheese grits in all their glory!

I do have a fancy camera....i should probably learn how to make my pictures prettier huh?

Pair with whatever you like, but we prefer it with bar-b-que or steaks.  You can also throw in some extra ingredients like green chiles, jalapenos, etc.

Behold the recipe....

This is one of the easiest recipes I have ever made.  I didn't do a step by step, but here are a few helpful pointers.

• After the water is boiling, add all the ingredients except the eggs.  Stir everything a few times and then reduce the heat.  
• Use that mixture to temper the eggs....I promise that scrambled eggs in this add for quite a weird texture.  I find that adding the cheese 1st helps reduce the temperature enough that the eggs will be less likely to scramble.  This is the only tricky part to the whole thing, but I promise it's worth it, and it gets easier with every batch you make.
• This can be frozen and reheated for later!  Still tastes great!  

Now go forth and and spread the love of cheese grits to everyone!

You will be glad you did!  I am quite convinced this can cure lung diseases and any other ailments my loyal followers might have!

How to make...

Spice Tea!

Over Thanksgiving I caught a fungus....and by fungus I mean a cold.  All I wanted was some Spice tea, because I truly believe that it's a cure all for a sore throat!  AND it's delicious!  So I finally made it today....long after my sore throat was gone, but you see it's chilly out here in the desert, and chilly mornings deserve spice tea as well!

Now the recipe!

1-1/4 cups Tang (yes Tang!)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup instant tea with lemon (I couldn't find any with lemon, so I just used unsweetened instant tea)

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t ground cloves

1/8 t salt

Mix all the ingredients together and put in a storage container.  Add 2-3 spoonfuls to a mug and then add hot water.  Mix and enjoy (it's good for the soul)!  I added some lemon juice to mine and it tasted delicious!!

How to make....

Rhett Pasta

Long ago, when I was just starting out as a nurse, and Rhett was an equally poor college student, we lacked funds to go out to eat. We ate a lot of sandwiches, and what has since come to be called "Rhett Pasta." It is our go to comfort meal, and I hope you can enjoy it as well.

Step #1 - Gather the ingredients: whole grain pasta (we have to get the fiber in some how), Italian seasoning, Oregano, Olive Oil, Cayenne Pepper, Ground Turkey, and the most important ingredient....heinous amounts of Mozzarella cheese.

Step #2-cook the ground turkey and when it's almost done add a large amount of italian seasoning (Rhett told me to say until the turkey turns green, but that made me lose my appetite).

Step #3-Cook the noodles according to package instructions, drain and then add the olive oil. This is another step that Rhett would prefer to drown the noodles, but I add ~2 Tablespoons and mix well.

Step #4-Add heinous amounts of Cayenne pepper. You basically want to turn the noodles red. However, if you are weak and cannot handle the heat, then add as much as you can handle. True Rhett Pasta is looks like Christmas: Red, green, and white.
Step #5-Sprinkle with Oregano, and mix well. Again use your judgement on the amount of Oregano...we use quite a bit.
Step #6- Spray a casserole dish with Pam and start layering the dish. 1st with a layer of pasta.
Then a layer of turkey.
Then the 1st helping of heinous amounts of cheese.
And then repeat once more with the noodles, turkey, and cheese.

Step #8- You can either cook it on 400 degrees until the cheese is melted or broil it. I find that cooking it at 400 for 5-10 minutes helps to melt the middle layer of cheese!

Step #9 - Remove from the oven and enjoy the warm, noodle-y, cheesy, spicy goodness!

SO there ya have it....Rhett Pasta. It is delicious, and provides room for many variations. We prefer the original version, but have fun with it! And enjoy!

How to make.....

Spicy Pretzels!

Get excited....these are delicious. They are actually pretty healthy if you don't pay attention to the sodium content or the heinous amounts of oil in it!

1. Gather the ingredients. Please don't judge me for the jug of oil. We don't typically have that much oil, but we got a deep fryer for Christmas. More on that in another post!

2. Combine the spices together. Make sure you get all the lumpies out! It will make for an unhappy surprise if you get a hunk of cayenne later!

3. Now you can empty the pretzels into a big bowl or a gigantic tupperware container with a lid. After trying it both ways, I prefer the tupperware! It makes sure that every pretzel gets coated pretty nicely!

4. Pour the heinous amount of oil all over the pretzels. And then either shake it up or stir the pretzels to get completely coated. The shaking provides a nice anger release! I'm a fan.

5. Sprinkle the seasonings all over the pretzels. Then repeat the shake/stir step. Some of the seasoning will settle on the bottom of whatever container you use. Try to scrape it up and get that on some pretzels.

6. Empty the contents onto paper towels. I covered some cookie sheets with paper towels so I wouldn't risk ruining my granite. Do whatever you want....don't complain that I didn't warn you though!

Now let them "dry" for about 7 hours. This is a perfect snack to make at night, that way you wake up to large amounts of pretzels for breakfast.

Spicy Pretzels

(al la Vibra-Whirl employee)

3/4 cup Oil

1 Tbsp. Lemon Pepper

1 Tbsp. Garlic Power

2 T Ranch Dressing Mix (this is an entire packet)

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 lbs. Pretzels.

(I halved this recipe and to make it a little easier to work with)

Enjoy friends! It's worth the extra jiggle to your butt!

Cooking out of your pantry/freezer #1

Who hates going to the grocery store?

*I am raising both hands*

Well if you're like me and avoid grocery shopping like the plague, I hope to provide you with some meal ideas that allow you to stay home instead of venturing out into the "war zone"!

So to start it off right, I wanted to share with you a delicious chicken casserole recipe.

This is a super easy and yummy dish that one of my college roommates shared with me. I really don't know what the proper name is, so I will call it:

Chicken Crescent Roll Thingy

You will need:

-1 can of crescent rolls (ok I know this shouldn't be kept in your pantry....this is a "fresh ingredient")

-1 can of cream of chicken soup (You can also use any cream of soup: mushroom, broccoli, etc.)

-chicken (this can be chicken breast or canned chicken, I know that sounds weird, but it actually works really well in this dish)

-cheese ( I prefer mozzarella)

I decided to use fresh chicken this time, because it was on sale. Sorry I know the whole premise of this series is not needing to go to the store.....I'm a fraud. I accept it. However...I usually use canned chicken because I can't cook chicken worth a darn...

Anyways, chop the real chicken up or shred the cooked chicken.

Put a few tablespoons of meat in the center of the crescent roll. A good general rule is take the amount of meat you have and divide it into 8 equal servings. This way every crescent has the same amount of meat in it.

Next wrap the corners around the meat.

Place in a casserole dish. I actually doubled this recipe so we would have leftovers for lunch this week.

Cover the crescents in the cream of chicken soup ( or your fav soup).

Cover it in cheese....because that makes it extra yummy!

Acknowledge your little helper with the green and red eyes. He's a good doggie patroller.

Bake at 375 for about 20 ish minutes. It takes longer than just regular crescents because of the soup, so just assume it will be done in 15 mins, and then check every few minutes. It's not so good if it's undercooked!

Hungry Yet?

And there you have it! A quick and easy dinner! Serve with your preferred veggies! I know...there's no color on the plate. Sue me....it was yummy!

Chicken Crescent Roll Thing:

1 can of crescent rolls

1 can of "cream of" soup (I used chicken)

2-3 chicken breasts or 1 can of chicken (sold near the tuna....i know it sounds gross like spam, but it's not...I promise...I mean I would eat it straight out of the can...but it works here)

cheese ( I used Mozzarella)

1.Shred up chicken

2. Put equal amounts of chicken into each crescent roll and roll it up.

3. Cover the rolls in the soup and then sprinkle with cheese.

4. Bake at 375 for approx 15-25 minutes, until the crescents are cooked completely.

Enjoy!

I CAN actually cook!

I just surprised both my husband and myself with the dinner I cooked us tonight.

It was delicious, and I can't believe I actually made it!

You see I love to bake, and most days I am pretty good at it, but making a meal to eat...I pretty much suck at it.

Generally, Rhett will suck it up and eat whatever I make, because he doesn't want to upset me (the time he ate the White Chili with the crunchy beans comes to mind). And then there was the one time he just couldn't do it, he flat out couldn't finish my concoction, because he would vomit in the process.

But tonight...he ate it! AND when back for generous seconds!

It was super easy and if you like something with a little spice to it, you must try it!

Chicken Chipotle Tacos
from Cinammon Spice & Everything Nice
Makes about 7-8 tacos, depending on size

1 Yellow Onion, diced
Vegetable oil, for sauting
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Chipotle Chiles in Adobo, seeds scraped out, minced, plus 1 tablespoon of the Sauce
3 cups cooked Chicken, rough chopped
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 teaspoon Chile Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt & fresh black pepper
1/4 cup water
Guacamole, recipe to follow
Flour or Corn tortillas
Your choice of fixin's:
Sour cream
Shredded Cheddar or Mixed Mexican Blend Cheese
Shredded lettuce
Diced Tomato
Diced Onion
Salsa
Lime wedges

1. Saute the onion in oil until translucent, add garlic and saute until fragrant, add Chipotles and saute for a minute or two.

2. Add chicken, oregano, Chile powder, salt, pepper, and water. Mix well and heat over medium-low heat about 8 - 10 minutes, stirring often.

3. Serve in heated tortillas with fixin's.

I hope you love it as much as we did!

How to make.....

The Smashing Pumpkin Smoothie a la Keva Juice


Ohhh people....this time of year all I want is pumpkin and cold weather and soup.

But seeing how we moved to the Desert where it is still consistently in the high 80s, soup just isn't gonna work.

SO, the next best thing is pumpkin pie in smoothie form....it's sooooo good!

1st gather your ingredients:
The key is to get the pumpkin pie mix (in a can). That keeps this super simple!

I goofed up though and didn't get non-fat yogurt...ooh well.

2nd Mix it up....like liquify the crap out of it....you don't want chunks of ice!

3rd Enjoy!

Copy cat Keva Juice Smashing Pumpkin smoothie

1/2 cup of canned SPICED pumpkin (aka pumpkin pie mix)

3/4 cup non-fat milk

4 scoops of non-fat vanilla frozen yogurt

3/4 cup crushed ice

original recipe found here

Random thoughts on a Friday...

Here's some of the randomness coming from my brain today....

1. I failed (I mean epically failed) at dinner last night. I attempted to make hamburgers (Rhett grilled them and I seasoned them), and they were so bad, he didn't finish eating them. It is the only meal that he has never finished of mine.....he even ate my crunchy beans (that was when I tried to use dried beans for a soup, and apparently didn't soak them long enough).

2. We are going to see this movie today after work...

and Rhett is so excited....he's been waiting in anticipation for it to come out for weeks!

3. I find it quite sad that I learn the name of my fellow co-workers (the teachers) by facebook stalking them. At least I finally was able to put a face to the name of about 5 teachers yesterday.

4. I am so happy it's friday....and that the school recognizes Veteran's Day as a holiday!

5. I have feel so old when I have no idea what new slang words or abbreviations mean. I have had to reference Urban dictionary like 5 times in the past few weeks.....so pathetic!

That's it...not too exciting, but I'm trying to be better about updating!

Have a wonderful weekend!

This is how we celebrate Lawrence Style!

My husband thanks you all for the well wishes on his birthday! We did indeed have a fabulous day! Here is the picture recap!

Eating the Chipotle burrito....he was not pleased that I took his picture!

The homemade Key Lime Pie!

Don't you love how creative I was? HA

After he blew out the candles!

We had a great day! Rhett got to play video games, enjoy his new Amp for his guitar, and not have me hassle him to get any work done! I think he enjoyed it all!

Here is seriously the BEST recipe for Key Lime Pie....and I may have posted this once, but it's worth a second post!

• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (12 to 15 key limes or 3 to 4 common limes)
• 4 teaspoons grated lime zest
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 11 graham crackers
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• It's easier to remove the lime zest from whole limes so I would start with that. Then I would cut the limes in half and squeeze out the juice being careful not to include any pits.

  Process the graham crackers in a food processor or blender and then melt the butter and have it at the ready.

  1. Whisk the egg yolks and lime zest together in a bowl until tinted light green. This takes about 2 minutes

  2. Beat in milk, then juice and set aside at room temperature till it thickens.

  3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

  4. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in another bowl.

  5. Add butter and stir with a fork until well blended.

  6. Pour this mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and press over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Try using the bottom of a measuring cup to make sure the graham cracker mixture forms a firm crust on the bottom of the pie pan.

  7. Bake on the center rack for about 15 minutes until the crust is lightly brown, remove and let cool to room temperature.

  8. Pour the lime filling into crust, spread evenly, and then bake for 15 minutes until the center sets, but still wiggles when shaken.

  9. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

  10. Refrigerate for at least three hours until well chilled.

  Some of you might like to serve it with a whipped cream topping or a meringue topping, but I prefer keeping it simple. If the pie seems to be sticking to the pan when serving, try dipping the pan into a bowl of warm water to loosen it.

  
  

  From The Reluctant Gourmet

  
  

  ENJOY!

How to make.....

Frozen Yogurt!

What do you do when you have strawberries that are near the end of their life span and are trying to stop eating like a heifer?

You make frozen yogurt! I personally love yogurt in basically any form so this is a perfect low cal treat!

Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

(courtesy All Recipes)

• 2 cups fat-free plain yogurt
• 2 cups pureed fresh strawberries
• 1 (14 ounce) can fat free sweetened condensed milk (I used regular)
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix it all together and pop it in your ice cream maker. 30-40 minutes later you have a delicious and an almost guilt free treat!

My word of advice is really puree the fruit. If it's too chunky, it's like you are trying to bite through ice. Otherwise it was quite delicious!

How to make.....

Coffee Bread

This is a popular recipe in the Stowers household.  We make it during the holidays, I made it for all my wedding shower hostesses, and I am trying to bribe potential home buyers with it!

I grew up with this bread and I LOVE IT!  There is nothing like the smell of fresh and delicious bread baking in the oven!  So I finally decided it was worth the task of photographing/blogging the process so more people could enjoy this delicious treat at home!

Some of you may be intimidated by yeast.  DON'T!  It's so easy!  And the worst things that could happen would be that the yeast gets killed in the process and your bread won't rise, but at least you will have tasty bread sticks!  So best of luck!  This is a simple recipe with only a few ingredients, but it does take several hours for the whole process.  I find it best to start early in the morning and then I can be done by noon or the early afternoon!  So without further ado....

1. Gather your ingredients, and notice that I forgot to include eggs, yeast, water, and baker's joy cooking spray.


2.  Melt the butter.  Dissolve the yeast in warm water (not pictured). Combine dry ingredients (note to reader,  I have yet to perfect the bread when making it at higher elevations.  In the Texas panhandle 8 cups of flour may be just right, but it's too much in Albuquerque.  I only start with 6-7 cups and then add more after the entire mixture has risen.  I have no tips on high altitude cooking)  Slightly beat the eggs and sprinkle some grated rind into the eggs.

After the butter is melted, I then add the water and evaporated milk.  Doing this helps to cool down the butter and keep the  yeast from being killed.




3.  Add the egg mixture to the milk/water/butter mixture.  Then add the yeast to the milk/butter/water/egg mixture.  Mix gently.  Add the milk/water/butter/egg/yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. 


4.  Stir the wet and dry ingredients until flour disappears.  Cover and put in warm place to let it rise.  The length of time that takes varies but it's around 2 hours.  If it sits too long, the dough will start to dry out!  

5.  After the dough has risen, lightly flour the top of the dough and push it down in the bowl.  Dump it out on a floured surface and knead slightly.  Divide the dough into 3, and put 2 of the balls back in the bowl.  Continue to knead the remaining ball and then roll out into a large oval. 




6.  Brush the dough with lots of melted butter (good for your heart right?) and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.  Roll it up and place it seam side down a greased bread pan.  Continue the same process for the remaining balls of dough.  Brush all the tops with the melted butter.  Cover the 3 loaves and then place in a warm place and let double in size (which takes about 1-2 hours).




7.  Once doubled in size bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.  When done remove from oven and turn out while the bread is still warm.  Let cool and then slice it up and smother it with butter and stuff your face till you have a tummy ache! (Well maybe you have more self control than me!)

If you don't eat all 3 immediately, the best way to get the fresh bread taste is to slice it up, butter it, and broil it so you get a nice toasty edge, but a gooey center!  

Coffee Bread Recipe

2 pkg yeast

1/4 c warm water

1 c evaporated milk

1 c water

1/2 c margarine or butter

8 c flour

1 1/4 c sugar

1 T salt

2 eggs (slightly beaten)

grated orange or lemon rind

Filling:

melted butter

cinnamon sugar

Heat milk, marg/butter until melted.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Dissolve yeast in warm water and combine into milk mixture along with the eggs and grated rind.  Stir into dry ingredients until flour disappears.  Cover bowl and let rise ~ 2 hours.  Push down and turn out on floured surface.  Knead slightly and then divide into 3 parts.  Knead until elastic.  Roll each into a large oval, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle generously with cinn/sugar mixture.  Roll up and place side down in a greased bread pan.  Brush top with melted butter and let rise again until doubled in size ~ 1 hour.  Bake at 350 for ~ 35 mins.  Turn out of pans while warm and devour when its cool enough to cut!

Whew...this recipe is so much easier to make than to blog about...I'm pooped!  Did I mention that we triple this recipe when making it, so we don't have any left over evaporated milk.  each can has about 1.5 cups in it.  When that happens...this is how much bread you end up with....

(that's right, 5 normal loaves, and 8 baby loaves, remember that I'm trying to bribe people to buy my house...would it work for you?)

ENJOY!