29 Sep 2014

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

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Menu this weekthe

Bring on October.  These last two weeks of September through October are my favorite of the year.

The weather in ATL has been kind of rainy – but definitely cooler.  Thanks to the gym my jeans and other clothes are fitting better.  And I’m getting to wear lightweight scarves.  Both of my boys were born within 4 weeks of each other (different years of course) and my mister and I celebrate our anniversary in between their birthdays.  It is full and packed with love and fun celebrations and highlights of the year for sure.

This week here is what’s going down in the kitchen.  Right now it is a total mess because we’ve had my parents here as a vacation follow-up so we’ve done more and I’ve not felt like cooking. Hello Monday.  Time to declutter.

Trader Joe’s Chicken and sweet pepper sausages – mashed potatoes – mixed vegetables

Jiffy corn waffles

Egg noodles with Trader Joe’s Pesto Gouda and some sweet grape tomatoes (trying to flash back to summer real quick)

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Taking these to our Brinner Fellowship Meal at our church on Sunday night.

Brinner for one night featuring some hawaiian rolls

And you know the normal sandwiches, quesadillas, and chicken nuggets during the day to feed some hungry and growing boys.

What’s cooking in your Fall kitchen this week?

27 Sep 2014

Spiced Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Fall equals apples to me.  And I had a reason to make a cake today: because I had a bag full of apples.  And I had a spice cake mix so all I had to do was run to my neighborhood Publix and get some cream cheese.  Because we all need some good creamy rich cream cheese frosting every now and then right?

Fall Baking

This is simple and moist and definitely a winner.  Enjoy tonight!

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Spiced Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Author: 
Recipe type: Cake
Cuisine: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
Moist, perfect fall cake with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting
Ingredients
  • 1 boxed spice cake mix
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup water
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 cups chopped, peeled gala apples
  • 1 8oz package of cream cheese
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 4½ T unsalted butter
Instructions
  1. Mix cake according to box instructions.
  2. Add in apples before baking.
  3. Spray pan and cook according to box instructions.
  4. Let cool.
  5. Mix cream cheese and butter.
  6. Add in vanilla
  7. Add powdered sugar until frosting is smooth.
  8. Frost cake.
  9. Eat.
  10. I cut circles out of the cake and just set a double layer and made naked cakes with just layers of cream cheese frosting. Sprinkled some cinnamon on top.
 

 

22 Sep 2014

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

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Charming South Kitchen goes to Vogel

This week is vacation week mostly – for our little family (and my parents, otherwise known as Mimi and Pops).  We are heading about 90 minutes north of us and retreating to a place we went to while we were growing up (yes, my Mister went too though we didn’t know each other).  It will be great to go as a new family!

So, while I won’t be cooking in the Charming South Kitchen, we will still be cooking because the cabins have full kitchens.

Mom is bringing taco soup

I’m making this cake to celebrate both of the boys’ birthdays with Mimi and Pops.

We are grilling out burgers (repeat of yesterday)

Making this totally sweet breakfast bake

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pancakes for brinner.

Hawaiian Bread Ham and Cheese sandwiches for dinner along with some greens.

Chicken salad on croissants

And then when we get back we will probably enjoy some corn waffles and leftovers and eating out with my mom to finish out the month.

I will be making some fall cupcakes for a church luncheon we are going to on Saturday.

Easy cabin food!  Can’t wait.

21 Sep 2014

Sundays in the South

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Sundays are for Baking

I missed last’s week’s Sundays in the South installment.  For the first time in over a month my mister had a Sunday afternoon off – so we enjoyed that time together.  I usually don’t get on the computer when he is home – because I want to be about doing life with him, not blogging.  So, what I need to get better at is writing blogs and posting them to be live on those days that he is off – that way I would still be posting regularly.

The Fall is always a time of celebration for our family and this time we are including a family vacation and the boys and I are taking a trip to Little Rock.  With celebrations comes food.

And today, Sundays in the South is brought to you by a new food for me: I just finished reading my latest edition of Southern Living, and I saw a Dutch Baby (which is an oven pancakes).  I have everything – so I am going to head on into the kitchen to make it.  We will see how it turns out!

15 Sep 2014

Roasted Chicken Enchilada Casserole

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Roasted Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Mexican Food.  Easily my favorite comfort food.  Give me a big bowl of fresh guacamole and some tortilla chips and I’m a happy camper.  You can’t go wrong with anything Mexican.  I do like making it at home, but don’t usually – I guess I would rather go out and get it.

We had a date the other night – and I love cooking for our babysitters.  I decided to make homemade enchiladas and hoped the recipe turned out well since I didn’t even try it before we left the house. Half the pan was gone by the time we arrived home – great amount for a meal’s worth of leftovers for us the next day.

Rotisserie chickens are good and all from grocery stores, but I also like making my own roasted chicken.  Especially for recipes like that – because I usually can’t find a tex-mex flavor rotisserie chicken in the deli.  This one was so easy and I did it the night before while the mister and I were watching one of the our favorite summer shows.

You can serve this with red or green enchilada sauce and whatever side dish you want – we chose black beans (which I doctored up with lime juice and some avocado)

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Roasted Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Author: 
Recipe type: Casserole
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Mexican comfort food at its best!
Ingredients
  • 1 whole chicken
  • taco seasoning
  • 6 whole wheat tortillas (medium size)
  • 1½ cans red enchilada sauce)
  • 1 can refried beans
  • 1 onion
  • ½ cup canned corn, drained
  • ½ cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 small can chopped green chilis, drained
  • 3 cups mexican blend shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450.
  2. Rinse and pat dry a whole chicken. Remove inner parts of chicken if any. Put in a pan and drizzle olive oil on top. Sprinkle (ok, a lot) of taco seasoning on top.
  3. Cook for about an hour or until done. (depends on the size of your chicken)
  4. Let rest and cool then shred the chicken.
  5. In a pan on stove, heat more oil.
  6. Cook onion for about 3 minutes, then add corn, chilis, and beans to heat through - about 3 more minutes.
  7. In a 2 quart casserole, start layering with enchilada sauce, then tortillas (I tore mine to fit the pan I used),
  8. Then refried beans, chicken, onion mixture, cheese.
  9. Repeat layer one more time for a total of two layers.
  10. Top with tortillas, sauce, and cheese.
  11. Bake for about 35 minutes on 350 until all the cheese is melted.
  12. Enjoy!
 

15 Sep 2014

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

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Homemade Strawberry Lemonade

We have a HUGE week ahead of us in the Charming South kitchen household.  Can’t wait to share it with y’all.  The biggest event is my older mister turns 2 on Friday!  TWO!  Can’t believe it.  So much has happened in two years.  Two years ago we were living in Durham and now we live in ATL with Little Rock in between us and another baby.  Wow – God has a purpose in all of this!

Here we go:

Leftovers of chili and cheeseburger mac

Beef Tips over Egg Noodles

Taco Soup from our Freezer Meal Party

Juicing (because I have been feeling so bloated the past few weeks and need to feel comfortable in the skirt I want to wear to Elijah’s party (hopefully)

Burgers, Crescent Dogs, cupcakes, a school bus cake, and side dishes for the big party on Friday.

Jiffy Corn Waffles

Tuna Noodle Salad (a box – my mister loves it)

When I have one big thing that I need to cook for : I like to try to find shortcuts for the rest of the week.  Leftovers, freezer meals, and some easy semi-homemade foods are a great fit.  That way I don’t burn myself out in the kitchen (believe me it happens) before the big event!

9 Sep 2014

Apple Scone Cake ala mode with Red Hot Drizzle

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Apple Scone Cake

One of the true joys about living near the mountains is picking apples.  We actually picked apples in Canada on our honeymoon.  So fun to do something you enjoy with the man you enjoy most in the world.

Apple Picking in Canada

Picking apples is great exercise and you get healthy food out of it – just don’t get most of your exercise from doing squats to pick up the ones from the ground.  Worm eaten apples aren’t worth it.

I also remember crab apples.  My grandparent’s dirt road used to be lined with apple trees and we would run up and down the roads, getting dirty and eating sour apples.  Ah, the joys of childhood.

I can’t wait to take my boys apple picking – to see their joy when they can hold what they pick in their little bitty hands and hold it up as if to say This is my apple!  They love wandering around with anything in their hands, so apples will be just the treat for them!

Eating Apples

 

This recipe is topped with some delicious additions to make it even better.  First, I most give a shout out to the Mister.  He said he would like this cake better with a caramel sauce.  I’ll work on that babe.  Talenti Gelato is amazing and their containers make great desk accessories – and its made right here in Marietta where we live. Their Tahitian Vanilla Bean is rich and deep.  (Side note to any Talenti people reading this: can my boys and I come do a tour and taste testing?)  Then I tried my hand at melting down red hots in apple juice – and it worked as a chewy magic shell.  It basically made the dish pretty.

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Apple Scone Cake ala mode with Red Hot Drizzle
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Cake
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6-8
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 stick unsalted chilled butter (cut into pieces)
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup (minus 2 tbsp) milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 granny smith apple, thinly sliced
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • cinnamon to taste
Instructions
  1. Mix the dry with the butter and run it in your food processor till you get coarse crumbs.
  2. Add in the liquid and combine.
  3. Put half of the mixture on the bottom and side of a deep dish pie pan (that's been sprayed). Dough will be sticky.
  4. Thinly slice two apples and arrange on top of the dough.
  5. Then drop the rest of the dough on top like drop biscuits. Top with cinnamon and sugar.
  6. Bake for about 45 minutes on 350.
  7. Top with ice cream and red hot drizzle.
 

8 Sep 2014

Easy Lunches: Chicken, Bacon & Avocado Wrap

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Chicken Bacon Avocado Wrap

When I was growing up, August and September meant two things: going back to school and scuppernong grapes.

My grandparents, Granny and Papa, who lived across the pasture from us, had grape vines.  I loved going over there and picking the grapes once Papa told us they were in.  When I was smaller, he would climb the ladder and I would hold the bowl or brown paper sack to put them in.  But, as I got older and taller, I would take the sack up the ladder with me and drop them in.  I loved them so much I would break out around my mouth – somehow allergic to them, but only in large doses.

Those days are long gone, but I still love scuppernongs.  I remember buying them in the store for the first time.  I couldn’t imagine paying 5$ for grapes that I used to get for free.  But, the smell brought back so many memories, that the 5$ didn’t matter anymore.

I just got some at the Dekalb Farmers Market (along with the greens used on this wrap) and these grapes still make me break out if I have too many, and my older son doesn’t care much for them – but I still love them, and fondly remember my Papa.

To begin a new series here on the blog: I want to create some easy lunches that you can have too.  Currently in our home, my lunch is usually leftovers of what my boys don’t eat, or a taco from Taco Bell, or CFA salad with nuggets.  Sometimes it may be leftovers.  I don’t usually prepare gourmet foods just for myself.  I’d rather go out all the time – but the budget doesn’t allow for that.

This wrap was healthy, under 3 minutes to put together, and delicious.

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Chicken, Bacon & Avocado Wrap
Author: 
Recipe type: Sandwich
Cuisine: Lunch
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1
 
Bacon Chicken and Avocado for an easy lunch win
Ingredients
  • 1 whole wheat tortilla
  • ½ cup shredded chicken
  • 2 T shredded colby jack cheese
  • 1 strip cooked bacon
  • mayonnaise and honey mustard
  • greens
  • avocado
Instructions
  1. Put tortilla down on microwave safe plate
  2. Fill with chicken, cheese, bacon - heat for 45 seconds
  3. Then top with greens, avocado, and condiments.
  4. Wrap and eat!
 

8 Sep 2014

Roasted Mexican Street Corn & Chicken Frittata

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Corn and Chicken Frittata

I wish every week we could go on a honeymoon.  My husband and I love to travel and I can’t wait to show our boys the world (as much as our budget will allow).  Early on in our courtship, my husband and I knew we had a mutual love of food and roads.  So, naturally when we got married, he was a master at planning our “secret” honeymoon.  I could never have planned a better trip.

Corn on the Cob

After a brief stay at our favorite place in Durham we ventured up to Washington DC for a few days as the first leg on a two week road trip.  He had bought us tickets to the Taste of DC – a huge foodie tasting tour in front of the Capital Building.  Even though I was sick, I still enjoyed it – in spirit at least.

Oh and a brief, unpaid plug.  My husband loves Duke’s.  Yes, the mayonnaise.  I’d tried it once before and I stuck to my regular brand, but now have tried it again – and it really has made me fall in love with mayonnaise again.

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Roasted Mexican Street Corn & Chicken Frittata
Author: 
Recipe type: Frittata
Cuisine: Eggs
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Corn chicken and eggs with a kick
Ingredients
  • 2 ears of corn
  • 2 T mayonnaise (I use Duke's)
  • cayenne pepper to taste
  • chili powder to taste
  • 2 c shredded chicken
  • ½ cup sauteed onion
  • 7 eggs
  • 1½ cup half and half
  • 1½ cup mont jack cheese, shredded
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450. On two pieces of foil, squirt equal amounts of mayonnaise, lay the shucked corn on top, roll around, and sprinkle cayenne and chili powder.
  2. Close up the foil.
  3. Bake for about 25 minutes.
  4. Remove and cool.
  5. Cut the corn off the cob.
  6. Lower temperature to 350.
  7. Spray a deep dish 9 inch pie plate with Pam.
  8. Mix the eggs, half and half, and cheese (and more seasonings if you want).
  9. Mix the corn, chicken, onion
  10. Combine the two and pour into pan.
  11. Bake for about an hour or until set.
  12. Let cool and enjoy!
One of the favorite things I tasted was Mexican Street Corn: mayo, cheese, cayenne, corn – what’s not to love?  So, I wanted to recreate the corn and turn it in to a frittata.  It turned out great!  Here you go.  If you like corn casserole and quiche – you will love this.  Its like a cross between a spicy corn casserole and a quiche.  And if you have little ones eating it, just lay off the cayenne.

8 Sep 2014

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

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Eggs and Corningware

Yes, Fall has officially begun because we are now passed Labor Day!  Do you still wear white?  Just curious!?

Well, I’m definitely cranking out some warmer meals this week. The only thing that has been different about the Atlanta weather for the past week is we’ve had a lot more rain. I love the big storm clouds.  I don’t love the fact that the storms seems to come during my boys’ nap time.  They aren’t fans of constant thunder!  Oh, well, I will train them right!

Pot Roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions

Beef Tips over Basmati

Chili (from a friend through a freezer meal exchange that I will be sharing) and cornbread

Fish tacos and cole slaw

Homemade Cheeseburger Helper – will share with you my adapted recipe

Baked Potato Bar

Baked Ravioli and Homemade French Bread

And i’m baking some soft batch cookies with fall candies.  Can’t wait to show you finished product!  And share them with a mom who is about to have another baby!

What are you cooking this week?