Category: food

Batter up!

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It’s a weird week. Mr. Wonderful is in real estate school (he spends hours a day studying as well so my mom is convinced he’s going to “graduate” as valedictorian!!!). Jack had basketball practice last night and then we ate dinner with my parents (score!). He has a basketball game tonight at 6:30 (what?! that’s way too late!!!!) so the cooking won’t be good. Tonight I am putting one of those pre-seasoned Smithfield pork loins in the oven and calling it dinner. It’s not gourmet but it’s better than going hungry. Sometimes you just gotta do what’s easy. Although, y’all are getting to know me well enough through this fantastic (ahem!) blog so you should know I always do what’s easiest!

Next week Jack starts real baseball (as opposed to fake baseball!). His last basketball game is Saturday and his first baseball practice is Tuesday. At 3:30. 20 minutes up the road. And he gets off the bus at 3 pm. And the baby is still asleep at 3 pm most days. So that ought to be interesting. I’ll keep you posted on how that cluster-you-know-what turns out. I’m looking forward to baseball season though. It’s definitely my favorite! And not to brag or anything, but Jack is pretty damn good at baseball. It’s just one of those things that he took to right away and it’s so fun to watch! This will be the first year off the tee so it’s gonna be a fun one folks! And my childhood best friend’s (whose mom’s pizza recipe I’m going to share with you) son is on the same team as my son so that’s pretty exciting too! It’s going to be a fun season.

“Best friends” are a funny thing. I actually find it kind of offensive. Other than my mom and my husband, I can’t say that any of my friends are my best friends or my worst friends. I love them all. They’re all unique and beautiful and fun. They’re all the best. I understand the varying degrees of closeness, and I get that time is a factor in having a “best” friend but, I don’t know, I’m just not on board with “best” friends in adulthood. I’m probably the odd girl out but that’s usually the case with me anyway. I’d love anybody’s feedback that wants to jump in and tell me their thoughts. This was a random tangent and quite irrelevant to anything I’ve been talking about but it’s my blog and I can do what I want. Nanny nanny boo boo!

Anywho, on to the pizza. I used to love it when my friend would have me spend the night on homemade pizza night. It was just the best. It brings back some great memories. So when I had to become all adult like, I asked her to provide me with the recipe and she very kindly did. So here goes:

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (I use the extra lean)

1 can tomato sauce

1 skinny can tomato paste

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp. oregano

8 oz shredded cheddar

pizza crust (I use Boboli thin crust)

pizza toppings of your choosing (we just did pepperoni the other night – we have a hard time agreeing on pizza toppings)

shredded mozzarella

olive oil

garlic powder to taste

Directions:

Brown hamburger and drain fat. Add tomato sauce, paste, garlic and oregano and let simmer 10-15 minutes. Mix in shredded cheddar and blend until melted.

Drizzle olive oil on pizza crust and sprinkle with garlic powder. (I like to use one of those kitchen paintbrush thingies (definitely the technical name there) and spread it all evenly. Then spread sauce on the pizza crust/dough, top how you please, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella (or whatever your preference is – I had to use 4 slices of mozzarella and some shredded cheddar the other night coz mama sucks at making lists when grocery shopping) and then bake according to the pizza crust package directions (mine was 8-10 minutes on 450)

The sauce makes enough for about 2 pizzas and since it’s just the 4 of us, one pizza is plenty. Can you guess where this is going?! Yep!!!! I freeze the remainder so that I have a quick, easy meal down the road! It’s just my favorite thing in all the world to have a freezer full of premade meals!!!

I don’t know what I’m cooking the rest of the week. There was talk of going out to eat Thursday night but we shall see. And then you know what happens (or doesn’t happen as the case may be) on Fridays. So, until I get my ass in the kitchen again…xoxo

PS Of course I forgot to take a picture. It looked like damn good pizza. Use your imagination!

Kellie is my name, slacking is my game

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I don’t know where the time goes! As predicted, by me, I forgot to post on Friday. I can’t think of anything that I did on Friday that prevented me from posting so my only excuse is that I’m a slacker! Perhaps I can find a support group to help me get over my slacking ways. Isn’t the first step admitting you have a problem?!

The weekend was a good one. I managed to cook not one bit! I’m probably the worst food/recipe blogger in the history of blogging!! Everybody’s gotta be something right?! I did already warn you that I don’t like to cook on Fridays. Hubby got takeout from our favorite restaurant (Kill Devil Grill if you must know) and it was dang good. We went with all apps – cheesesteak egg rolls, chicken wings and the best spinach artichoke dip known to mankind! We topped that off with a hunkin’ slice of key lime pie and then binge watched The Walking Dead. Yes, it was a fantastic evening thank you very much! 

Saturday night I had “book club” which should possibly change its name to “booze club” but that’s neither here nor there! We do actually pick out a book every month and sometimes the book even gets read!! And that’s just success at its finest! I played cards against humanity for the first time and I could have played until every card had been laid down. As a gutter minded girl (at all highly inappropriate times) it was right up my alley! Can we say k-l-a-s-s-y????

Sunday night I made hubby grill brats and I served a very gourmet veggie tray, chips and dip! See how well I did at avoiding cooking?! Take notes, y’all! I’m a professional!!!

I did make those most delicious chicken enchiladas last Thursday though and damn were they f***ing delicious. I mean slap yo mama good (what the hell does that one mean? I would never slap my mama – woman would kick my ass!!). Here are the specs on Quag’s chicken enchiladas (this is another one of my favs because I can make it during nap time AND it’s makes so much, I can freeze another meals worth! Woo hoo!! The sauce I always make fresh, though and I don’t freeze it. That’s just me. You do what makes you happy!)

Ingredients:

Cooked and shredded chicken (I do 2 large breasts (hey yo!) in chicken broth and water and then use the food processor to chop it up – it’s a great time saver)

1/8 cup sautéed onions (I don’t measure that shit – you be the judge)

1 block cream cheese, softened 

1 tsp minced garlic

Cheddar cheese (as much or as little as you like – I do about 4 oz)

Mexican blend shredded cheese

Corn tortillas – heated (wrap ’em in a wet papertowel and microwave about 30 seconds – the recipe calls for frying them but mama ain’t doin all that!)

Sauce:

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp corn starch (mixed with 1/4 cup cold water)

Directions:

Cook chicken and dice, slice, shred, cut that bird up! Mix chicken, onions, garlic, and cream cheese. Then add cheddar cheese and mix together. Spoon mixture into corn tortillas and place in greased baking dish seam down. 

Sauce:

Bring cream and sour cream to a boil. Reduce heat. Slowly stir in corn starch/water mixture to thicken sauce. Add salt and pepper. 

Top enchiladas with the cream sauce, sprinkle with Mexican blend cheese and bake 15-20 minutes on 400. 

Y’all, they don’t sound like much but they are so good! Mr. Wonderful likes to top his with salsa verde (that’s green salsa for those not as fluent in Spanish as me! Ha!) and sliced jalapeños. I like mine just the way they are and the boys love ’em too!! I served it with refried beans and Mexican rice. Yummy to my tummy!!!!

  
Tonight I’m making semi-homemade pizza (semi coz y’all know mama ain’t makin her own dough when Boboli does a way better job than I ever could)! It’s a recipe like got from my childhood best friend’s mom and it just brings back so many great memories! I’ll share more on it tomorrow or whenever I remember!! xoxo

Fever! Fever all through the night!

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Not really. Well, it could have been all through the night but it’s all gone today! Woo hoo! I’m talking about  Colt of course. I did take him to the doctor yesterday (go me!) and the doctor actually broke out his text book and was all like “I think it’s this!”. The “this” is called roseola and it affects 90% of children between the ages of 6 months and 2 years of age. It’s apparently caused by the herpes virus – types 6 and 7 – (ew) and presents as a high fever for 3-5 days and then a rash (that does not itch) that breaks out on the “trunk” of the child once the fever is gone. We are moving into rash territory today folks! The little red bumps are popping up all on that boys trunk. But he’s quite happy today and we even managed to play outside for a bit this morning. Until he fell in the dirt, looked at his hands, realized they were dirty, threw a bloody fit and we went back inside. Such a charming child!!

Last night, as you may recall, I made crock pot pork tenderloin. I find cooking meat in the crockpot to be tricky. In my experience, if you don’t get the timing exactly right, the meat turns to dust in your mouth. It’s like out of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation when they cut open the turkey and it all shrivels up and then they either to pretend to eat it or have to wash it down with copious amounts of water. The pork wasn’t quite that bad but I didn’t find it that good either. My husband liked it. Jack liked the meat, not so much the potatoes and Colt hated it. Although, he hated pretty much everything yesterday so I’m not sure we can trust his opinion. I thought it was edible but nothing I’m dying to eat again. I’ll share the deets with you and you can be the judge. Maybe you know exactly how long to cook pork in the crock pot and yours will turn out amazingly well. If so, hook a sista up with some tips, would ya?!

Ingredients:

2 lb pork tenderloin

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp. yellow mustard

2 tbsp. olive oil

3 tbsp. maple syrup (seriously! not joking at all)

1 chopped shallot

1 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Put tenderloin in the crockpot (yes, you must put it in there, it will not cook otherwise!!!!). Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over tenderloin. Cook on low for 6 hours. Flip the tenderloin at 2 and 4 hours for even cooking.

I also cut up some baby red potatoes and threw them in for the last 2 hours. They were actually quite good so I think if I can cook the tenderloin for the appropriate amount of time, this meal will be a tasty one that’s entered into the rotation. We shall see.

I obviously forgot to take pictures yet again (I’m soooo good at this!) but it was none too pretty anyway so you’re welcome!

Tonight I’m making one of my favorite meals of all time. The recipe is actually from a restaurant in the area that shut down several years ago and I was lucky enough to have my dad that knew a cook there and shared it with us! So on tonight’s menu – Quag’s chicken enchiladas, refried beans and Spanish rice. I’ll share all the yumminess with you tomorrow. Probably. If I remember. Until then, stay hungry my friends (ala the most interesting man alive but with hunger, not thirst)! xoxo

How to ruin Valentine’s Day

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Hello friends. Sorry it’s taken me a while to return. Although, to be fair, I did say that I wouldn’t be returning all weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for the amorous, romantic reasons I had hoped. To be fair, we did get in the couples massage, an afternoon nap and probably one of the best dinners I’ve ever had in my life. And just before the dessert arrived, I started feeling a little rumble in my tumble, if you know what I mean. And if  you don’t, I felt like upchucking the glorious meal I just consumed. Mr. Wonderful looked at me, said do you need some air, I said of course not, I’m fine, actually I’m going to go back to the room, see you later.

So, I make my smooth get away, all balanced on my heels and holding back the chunks. I have to ask how the hell to get out of the damn restaurant since I can’t find the damn door on my own. I step outside to the glorious, frigid night air; I round the corner, finding a quiet spot so as not to disturb anyone with the nastiness that I know is coming, and then I relieve myself of $75 worth of dinner and $30 worth of wine. Not my finest moment, especially when I look up and realize I just puked in front of a panaromic window full of diners trying to enjoy they’re ridiculously delicious (not to mention expensive) meal. Yikes to me.  I then sauntered off as if nothing ever happened and there was absolutely nothing to see. Because, quite frankly, what else was I going to do. Perhaps a bow, a tip of my metaphoric hat? No chance. Wasn’t happening.

So, I get back to my gorgeous room with ocean views, change into my fat girl pajamas, lie down on the bed and wait for my husband to return, which he does, accusing me of drinking way too much and throwing my Valentine’s meal down the drain. No honey, not down the drain, in the bushes, in front of a huge window, at a super classy restaurant. Get your damn story straight. And at first, I agreed with him. I must have drank/drunken/drunk (what the hell is the appropriate word, I have no idea! Sorry, Mr. Ervin, in case you ever read this again! I know you taught me better than this!!!) too much wine and my body was just rejecting all the rich food. Until after an hour of sleep, I was up again, same story, different venue. And another 45 minutes after that. And so on and so on for the next 10 or so hours and 9 rounds of vomit later. And it wasn’t just coming out of that end either but you don’t need to know about that just like you don’t need to know that it’s still happening. What, aren’t we all friends here?!

And that my friends, is how to ruin Valentine’s day! Now, I know I promised you all the deets on the pot roast I made on Friday and I will share it with you. Just not yet. The belly is still too delicate to think about that. Plus, I can’t find what I did with the damn recipe. It did turn out well, if you like pot roast (not really my favorite) but my husband loved it and the kids tolerated it. So, once I find it, I promise to share (for those that care and for those that don’t, f*%& you! (Just kidding))!

I will also be trying a new recipe tonight that I got from my wonderful friend Emily (hi, Emily – I assume you’re reading this, if not don’t tell me, I’ll live in my own little fantasy world and pretend you are!!). It’s called poppyseed chicken and I’m pretty excited about it.

I’ll be back friends (ala the Terminator – but not as Austrian or big or scary or political). Until then, order takeout or follow someone’s blog who cooks way better than me! xoxo