“Many doctors pay their grocery bill with the money of folks who have eaten too much”- Doctor's Quotes

It has been a while since I have posted any recipes or food posts.

An extremely tight budget is to blame. That- and the fact that cooking is just not near as fun when you are playing pantry bingo... A little B- a little I, combine them and make something edible.

Sometimes it is soup out of a can, gasp. haha

Today I left the house, went to an interview with a temp agency, a job is a job after all. Then another phone interview with a job service.

And I got a little yard work done. And it was a bit exhilarating. A feeling I have not felt in a while.

Of course I do not know if I have a job still and the heavy shadows and burden still hover. However, it was a bright spot.

And so, I cooked. I fired up the old beast of a grill and threw together a mighty fine and healthy meal while simultaneously watering the lawn. A lawn which requires manual movement of a sprinkler and a hose.

It was delicious and I will now share with you all.

If I had to name it? Perhaps

  Mexican grilled chicken?

I used one single boneless skinless chicken breast, and served three.

Cut it into four equal pieces of chicken. Then pounded the chicken out to a thickness of one half.

I do not have a meat mallet so I use my heavy marble rolling pin.
 The chicken seems to stay together better if you place a piece of plastic wrap over it before pounding.

Then season heavily- I used some jerk seasoning and some dried herbs. (Note: Do not salt while cooking as it will dry out the meat)

Place the chicken pieces onto a warm grill. Works best when set to low or med.

Cook on one side just until the outside edges start to turn white. 

Carefully turn over with tongs or metal spatula.

Spoon your favorite salsa onto the top of the chicken pieces. 

( I think you could really change this up for different flavors by using chopped tomatoes with olives for a Mediterranean flavor-  or possibly some basil and Parmesan for an Italian flavor)

Place slices of cheese on top of the salsa. I had colby-jack on hand but again... you can get creative.

Close the lid on the grill and cook just until the cheese melts.

(If your grill doesn't have a lid, you can cover with a metal bowl or lid.

The chicken should be perfectly cooked at this point.

Carefully remove from grill taking care not to lose the toppings.

Serve.

A great healthy meal served with fresh green salad or garden vegetables.

As another variation, I bake it in the oven during the cooler months.

Thought you could all use a healthy, low cost and low maintenance meal. 

A favorite appetizer - Thanks mom

My mother was a working girl most of my life. She set a great example for my sister and I as she juggled us, work, housekeeping and getting dinner on the table. Often she would attend pot-luck lunches at the office and I remember many a night she would create these little wonders the night before.

I am sure that most of you have eaten a cream puff at some time in your life, this is a savory version:


If you like savory over sweet... and want rave reviews at your next office party, pot-luck, or dinner party, try this one out!

Shrimp Puffs

First you need to create the puffs for filling. 
(This is the same recipe as you would use for cream puffs and these can be filled with so many fillings, the sky is the limit.)
I will start with puffs and in my next post, the fillings.


This part moves quickly so it is a good idea to read through the first few tasks before beginning.

In a large saucepan, bring 1 c. water, 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter and 1/4 t. salt to a boil. 

Add 1 c. flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms.
















Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes.

Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 






Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.






Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. 

Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Reduce heat to 375° for an additional 15 min.

Remove from oven and immediately split puffs open. Turn oven off and return puffs to warm oven to dry about 20 min. Remove to wire racks.


Then fill:


Tomorrow I will give some great savory filling suggestions. Including my mothers yum-o Shrimp filling.

Betty Crocker's here in spirit

Every year the girls and I (even my son when he is in town), bake up a batch of festive treats and then run them to friends and neighbors. When the kids were younger it served two purposes. First being that it was a rather inexpensive way to share the season. Second and most important was the company. Spending the day in the kitchen with the children is a great way to teach them. Spending the day together also teaches them to get along, work together and give them the satisfaction of creating something delicious.

Then we deliver them. Meeting with neighbors we rarely see in the winter months when we all hibernate and stay out of the cold. Saying hello and spending a moment or two catching up. Suburban neighborhoods can become a bit unsociable or make you feel isolated especially in the colder months. It is nice to take a moment with others.

This year we made quite a spread. I would have taken a few more photos but our tiny kitchen was overrun. More like a disaster.

After spending the morning coffee in hand, wrapping gifts for my ever expanding family we fired up the oven.
Beginning with simple mini banana bread loaves which used up our ever ripening supply of the star ingredient.

Next we made some tiny little vanilla tarts with pomegranate seeds.





Rachel mixed up some lemon ginger biscotti cookies while I started on some toffee fudge.

Things could have moved along much more quickly if we had more than one oven. Lots of waiting time on baking and cooling. This is why I think I love cooking so much more than baking.



We created a good mix of old favorites and some brand new recipies we found this year. I really need to stop watching the food channel and picking up new recipe books on a whim.

We made tiny cherry cheesecakes and then some blondies with cranberry and apricot topping and some raspberry spritzel bars.

Finishing off with chocolate truffles, and a pecan log then some simple edible snowflakes for decoration.


Hours later I sit, pizza in hand absolutely exhausted. The girls have run the treats this year I haven't the energy. Will have to get out to say hello to the neighbors and friends before the holiday hits.

But all in all it was a great bonding day with my girls. I love spending the day in the kitchen with them. We laugh, we talk, we giggle at our mistakes sing to the carols playing on the system and just enjoy each others company.

Isn't that what the holidays are about?

I have some catching up to do-

So-I did as I was had blogged that I wanted to do, and I met my new neighbors.

Wednesday night, as I watched the debates, I needed something to do with my hands. So, I pulled out all the Ingredients and decided to make a treat for my new neighbors and introduce myself. The girls both had to work that night, so I let them take the car, stepped into my favorite pair of comfy sweats, and heated up the oven.

I started out with my bowl of Grannie smith Apples. This recipe takes 5 whole apples. WOW!

Now, Since I don't do a lot of canning, and never make Apple sauce or Apple pie (unless poured from a can) I do not own one of those fancy gadgets that is almost like a Swiss army knife of Apple cuisine. One that peels, cores, chops, dices, splices, and serves it up piping hot for you.....

I had to 'make do' with what I had on hand. One time saver was this handy gadget, I bought when my kids were small in order to cut their apples into child size snack pieces, free of cores and seeds. Perfect! Well almost.

So easy- Slides over the apple, blades press into the apple creating perfect seedless, core less wedges.

Although a bit time consuming, the wedges made

it much easier to peel each one and then I sliced each wedge into maybe, 4 slices each.

If they look a little brown, it is because I forgot to keep them in icy water or sprinkle with lemon juice. But I also didn't think that this step would take me quite as long as it did....

Then I pulled out these absolutely mouth watering blackberries- couldn't find fresh, so using frozen. (This recipe says you can use blueberries, cranberries, blackberries or raspberries. I used my favorite.)

Then I readied the rest of the ingredients. Thought it would be fun to show them all arranged pretty like other food blogs...

Next- Grease the pan well, I used the stick of butter that I will be adding later to the recipe- works out to be exactly the remainder of the stick- or at least in my case:

Until it is well greased on all sides-

Next was to pour the apples, and 2 c. berries into a large bowl and mine clearly, was not big enough!

Look at the dark color of the berries against the white apple flesh. Then 1/4 c. of brown sugar is added, 1/2 teas. of cinnamon, and stir.

The apples become a bright red. Beautiful!

Then pour into your dish.

In a separate smaller bowl, combine: 1/3 c. all purpose flour, 1/8 teas. salt, 1/2 c. brown sugar, and one teas. cinnamon. Stir. then with a pastry blender or two knives, break the butter into the mixture until you have crumbles. Add oatmeal.

Spread over the apple-berry mixture. (sorry this one is blurry) Look at the fall colors!
Bake at 375 deg. for 40-45 min.

Serve hot with Ice Cream!!!

I sprinkled a little more cinnamon and some granulated sugar on top of mine before baking ....

De-lish!

I had hoped to make 3 recipes, two for different neighbors, and one for us. But after all the peeling and coring, changed my mind and made one. (still took the entire debate!)

So- Then while it was still piping hot, I covered it with foil, wrapped it in a hand towel, and prepared to deliver it to the new neighbors and hoped that they would be home....

And, as anyone who knows me can attest.... i am Murphy- you know the guy who cannot do anything with out SOMETHING going wrong? Well, so far I had made it through the baking process without such as a hitch.

Now, mind you, I have 2 very energetic dogs--- big dogs. They love to go outside. They used to bolt out the door whenever it was opened but we have been working with them and they are much better at staying in place. And they were- staying right where they were. I, with the dish poised in my hands, began to open the door but fearful that the dogs might bolt, kept one eye on them. When I held the dessert with only one hand in order to open the door, the dish tipped a little from the weight. Splashing some of the juice from out of the dish onto the towel and my right hand... Steaming HOT juice. The fear of the dogs smelling the juice, gave me the strength to jump out the door and close it.. the dessert was still OK. Just a teaspoon shy of juice. So I trudged on next door. They were sweet and although I was speaking 100 miles per hour out of nerves, I was glad I went. When I got back home, I ran my now bright red finger under water... no permanent damage but it did sting in my hot shower that night. Nothing goes smoothly- keep reading my blog- you'll see. That is OK. I know it is my fate and so I have come to peace with it. And boy- am I a hoot!!!!

Oh and I posted twice today, so don't miss the one titled- The pictures are back. On the archive menu. And if there are any of you out there who are reading me, go ahead and leave me a comment- click on the comments- and type- no need for an account. Would love to hear from you.