Gingerbread cookies

Dr. Oz Butt Busting Brownies

 Dr. Oz Butt Busting Brownies

The ingredients...

You also need some lowfat milk.

Blend ingredients together and then flatten in a pan.  Here is my ah-hem, beautiful creation.

It looks more like a cow pie than brownies to me.  Regardless of their appearance they aren't too bad; a bit spicy from the cayenne, bitter from the cocoa, and sweet from the raisins. 

Spi-chu

Spi-chu

Definition:  a word created by my son meaning spicy.

Over the last few months we have been dining with Mr. Papa John's pizza every Monday.  It's a nice break from the kitchen for me and a special treat for the children while watching WWE Monday night RAW.  Papa John runs a special called "Beat the Clock".  Basically, order at 6pm and your pizza is only $6.  Take out Dinner for four = $12.  Great Deal!
 As of lately, my husband has been ordering anchovies on his pepperoni pizza.  Eeeew Gaa-ross! He enjoys it so I suppose that's all that matters.  And Joie has this new fascination peppercini's.  We always get a couple peppercini's with our pizzas, but last time Joie and I were craving them so we got more.

Here is how you eat peppercini's and pizza...
            Bite of pizza, bite the peppercini, and repeat until fully satisfied.

Well Joie decided to change that up a bit...
            Skip the pizza, eat the peppercini, and repeat.

She is really starting to love Spi-chu 

 crazy girl.  Don't try this without water.

Mushy HAshbrowns

I have to admit I stink at making hashbrowns.  Every time I do they come out mushy.  They still taste okay, but the texture is completely off.  I attempted to make them again today. During the final stages I realized that my attempt to make crispy hashbrowns were just that, an attempt.  I had failed again.  This is where I stated," I don't know why I continue to make hashbrowns because they never come out right."  From the living room Jayden replied

 "Don't be so hard on yourself, mommy"

That comment alone made my hashbrowns appear better.  He tends to be very critical and hard on himself, always wanting to do things perfect the very first time.  I am usually telling him not to be so hard on himself.  Apparently, he learned that from me. He's is also learning that we aren't to be so hard on ourselves; it's okay to make mistakes.  It is amazing how God uses our children to refine our character-they are like little mirrors staring you in the face. It's also nice to see little seedlings sprouting from what you've sown. 

okay back to hashbrowns...I decided to find the secret to perfect hashbrowns.  I haven't tested it but I may have found the solution.  I am now on a mission to make perfect hashbrowns.  Next time I make them I will share the results and of course some pictures;o)

Happy Cooking...

Super Easy Cheap Dinner

Who doesn't want a super easy inexpensive meal??

I know I am all about easy and inexpensive as long as it's tasty too!  Maybe I should add that in the title, too ;o). 

The Recipe:   ETHEL'S CHICKEN

Who is Ethel?  Well, my Grandma had a friend named Ethel who sold me a solid wood bed set for only $70, but she didn't give me this recipe.  I believe this recipe came from my mother-in-law, who gave it to my husband, who gave it to me.  Where she got the recipe; I don't know? But it's easy and tasty.

Here it is...

1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
4-5 potatoes
5-6 chicken thighs
1/2 cup milk (I don't measure I just pour to the consistency that looks right)
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

Wash and slice potatoes 1/2 in. thick(no need to peel).  Place in the bottom of a baking dish.  (Use a 9x13x2.  Tonight, I used my one 9x13x2 pan for brownies so I used two smaller dishes.)  Salt and Pepper potatoes.  Place chicken thighs on top.  Mix two condensed soups together with a bit of garlic and milk.  Then pour over the chicken and potatoes.  I like to make sure all the potatoes have some of the soupy goodness on them, so I pour some over the potatoes before adding the chicken.  Top with some more pepper and then bake for 1 hour at 375*.  Voila!  Easy Ethel's Chicken.  I serve this dish with steamed broccoli.

Enjoy...

Homemade Corn Totillas

Recently, we dined at a Mexican restaurant and were terribly disappointed.  It seems as though Grand Cayman is in need of authentic Mexican food.  I was absolutely astonished when the fish tacos I ordered were served with those hard corn tortilla chip-like tacos.  Not that I don't like those super cheap ground beef tacos from Taco Bell or Dell Taco, but when I am going "out" to dinner those taco shells simply won't do.  This experience inspired me to make homemade tortillas.

I simply used Maseca Corn Masa Mix and followed the recipe on the back.  After my first batch I doubled the salt it called for making them even more delicious.  Now, I don't have a tortilla press so I had to get crafty with my cutting board, a smooth glass lid for pressing, and a wine bottle.  I covered all surfaces with plastic wrap.  Then flattened the ball of dough as much as I could between the cutting board and the lid.  It wasn't flat enough so I used my handy dandy wine bottle rolling pin to finish the job.  It was more simple than I thought.  It did require more time than buying ready made corn tortillas from the market, but definitely worth it.

Today we enjoyed corn tortilla quesadillas for lunch.  Joie enjoyed them so much that she exclaimed,"I love homemade quesadillas!"  There is no need to convince her that homemade is better; she already knows.

Mmm..Beef Round Steaks

Wow!  I am thrilled that my round steaks were delicious!  I decided against the Sorta Salisbury Steak and combined the other recipes for frying the rounds.

  My beef rounds were about 3/4 in thick; I sliced them in half so they were roughly 1/4 inch thick.  Because the meat is normally very tough I needed to tenderize it. (shh... don't tell anyone that I used a dull serrated knife to pound my meat) I made sure to  use plenty of freshly ground pepper like the Pioneer woman suggested .  I love pepper so I wasn't shy. (Have you seen me eat my pepper with fry's and ketchup???) In addition to pepper in the flour I added some Lawry's seasoning salt.  Then I followed
 choice #1 Chicken Fried Steak for the dredge.  I liked the idea of having the extra spices on it, Tabasco, buttermilk(of which I made my own, milk plus vinegar or lemon juice=buttermilk), and fresh garlic cloves.  So it's flour, dredge, flour, fry.  I didn't have shortening so I used veggie oil a.k.a. soybean oil.  Once HOT I added 2 TBLS butter for browning purposes.   I fried the first side until the edges started to brown then I flipped it and cooked the other side for about 1 minute.  I also chose to make gravy using the oil I fried the steaks in.  I roughly followed the recipe from "choice #1"; basically I cut the recipe in half- I didn't want that much gravy.  If we would have been having mashed potatoes I would have made a full batch, but we had potatoes au'gratin.    Even though it was box potatoes they were still delicious and a perfect combo. 
Shame on me...I didn't take any pictures.