19 Jan 2016

Mexican Lasagna

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Mexican Lasagna Casserole

As a mother of two – a preschooler and a toddler – life in my kitchen has gotten really slim.  Meaning – I used to love being in my kitchen.  But, now I’m multi-tasking and keeping an eye on the kids and an eye on the stove – its a wonder I don’t burn dinners and chop off my thumb in the process.

My friend Kristin over at Dine and Dish (you so have to check out her blog for everything) did an enchilada casserole.  I had been trying to make it for two weeks but kept either using an ingredient for something else, or forgetting an ingredient.  So, I just changed the recipe.  Thanks for the inspiration!

And my family loves some Mexican food.  Wait, I love Mexican food.  Therefore, I impose it on my family.  I hope they don’t mind.  This dish took 20 minutes to put together, takes 25 to cook, and it is great for leftovers.  I call that a win – win  – win.  And it is only made better by avocados and more cheese – that has to be a good dish.

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Mexican Lasagna
Author: 
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8-10
 
Easy layered Mexican lasagna perfect for any time of the year
Ingredients
  • ¾ lb ground chuck (or whatever ground beef or turkey is cheapest)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cups black beans (I used dry beans and cooked them down)
  • 1 can whole kernel corn (frozen would work too)
  • juice of half lime
  • 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2½ tsp taco seasoning
  • 6-8 flour tortillas, soft taco size
  • 1 bottle green salsa (I used Trader Joes because it is Whole30 compliant)
  • 1 can refried beans (or you can make them yourself)
  • Mexican blend cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Cook the meat until almost done. Add onion and cook until meat is done. Drain. (This is a good tip. You can buy cheaper meat with higher fat - just drain it really good when its done cooking.)
  3. Put the meat and onion mixture back in the pan. Add corn, lime, beans, tomatoes, and seasoning. Let simmer for 3-5 minutes.
  4. Start your lasagna with 2 tortillas in the bottom of a 11x7 pan. Then spread those with ⅓ of the can of refried beans. Then scoop up some meat mixture and layer that on top. Top with cheese then salsa. Then repeat.
  5. I left mine topped with cheese (just because I ran out of tortillas).
  6. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
  7. Eat it with a green salad. You can also serve tortilla chips if you want crunchiness and sour cream and more cheese and avocado are a must!
 

21 Dec 2015

This Christmas Week in the Charming South Kitchen

by | posted in: Christmas, food, Uncategorized | 1

Christ is Bornchristmas

Food is definitely a love language of mine – so I love to share it with others – especially my little men.  I’ve felt so bad that in this busy toddler and preschooler season I’ve not cooked near as much as I normally do – and I think my men suffer for it.  But, hopefully I will get these done this week:

Grinch Popcorn

Royal Icing (both of these are for a little Christmas cartoon party we are having at the house tomorrow)

Nutella Cinnamon Rolls (CEve breakfast)

Croissant Breakfast Bake (CDay breakfast)

PW Rigatoni and Meatballs

Garlic knots

Caesar Salad

Lemon Cake with Sugared Cranberries (Happy Jesus Day cake) = this is our first year doing this.  I’d like to make a main cake each Christmas and have it be Jesus’ birthday cake.  Sing happy birthday to Jesus and maybe start giving a gift to Jesus (our Lottie Moon offering, or gift to another Gospel-centered something)

Lemon Curd

Orange Curd

Chocolate covered pretzels and Chocolate Ritz PB Sandwiches (both of these are my my mister bc he loves them)

I think that will be it.  We’ll eat normal stuff or leftovers the rest of the week!

Merry Christmas yall.  Thanks for reading this little blog!

 

 

5 Nov 2015

Sweet Chili Kung Pao Cauliflower

by | posted in: food, The Charming South Kitchen | 0
a healthy warm satisfying dish
a healthy warm satisfying dish

When moving to a new place you always want to scout out a couple of things: parks, hiking trails, great local Mexican restaurants, and definitely a favorite sushi/chinese take out place.  One of my favorite things to do is to sit on the couch eating take out Chinese.  We haven’t done it in a while because we’ve not found a place that’s not really expensive here in our area.

There was a great local dive in Chapel Hill called Charlie’s.  It had the best corn egg drop soup and was just down the strip mall from where I worked for a while.  I loved everything on their menu.  Would love to grab lunch with a sweet friend there or take some home for dinner.  This is especially worth it for those cold, rainy winter nights.

It might not be winter yet, but its been constantly raining and cloudy with much of the same in the coming forecast – and I’ve been wanting to try something healthy with cauliflower.  Speaking of cauliflower – I hope my Mister will eat this.  There are only a few things that my mister doesn’t like – and I’ve changed his mind about one of them already since we got married.  So, I think the flavor of this dish will win him over to the cauliflower side!

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Sweet Chili Kung Pao Cauliflower
Author: 
Recipe type: main dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2-4
 
A healthy satisfying twist on a Chinese favorite
Ingredients
  • 2 T unsalted butter
  • 1 head cauliflower, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ⅓ cup sweet chili sauce (bottled) - divide into three
  • ½ cup chopped sweet peppers (red, orange, yellow)
  • 1 tsp chopped garlic (1-2 cloves)
  • ¼ cup salted peanuts
  • 2 T water
Instructions
  1. Heat butter in a non-stick pan or wok.
  2. Add cauliflower and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Saute with the water for about 3-5 minutes.
  4. Add some of the chili sauce.
  5. Add peppers and garlic. Saute about 2-3 minutes
  6. Add peanuts and more chili sauce. Stir until all combined
  7. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining chili sauce.
  8. You can add some green onions/chives or more peanuts on top for presentation.
  9. Serve with rice for a complete meal.
Trader Joes has a great Sweet Chili sauce that we use for some chinese chicken dishes.  It was perfect in this dish as well.  I also had chopped up some yellow, orange, and red peppers and had them in the freezer.  This dish took all of 10 minutes.  I love quick dishes – in between refilling preschooler sippy cups and singing the Dino Train song – quick is good for this busy momma!

21 Aug 2015

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

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Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

I don’t know what it is but the moment anyone in my family says they are sick, I immediately jump on the orange juice and chicken soup bandwagon.  Well, last weekend, my husband came down something for the millionth time this year.  I said I would go to the store that night.

I’m not a huge fan of broth noodle soup because after reheating it several times you don’t have any broth left.  And it usually lacks flavor. However, I wanted something creamy and thick and comforting.  This was it!

My boys and my mister have loved it – and my mister is all better. So, was it the chicken noodle soup, who knows? But, I know it didn’t hurt!

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Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Author: 
Recipe type: soup
Cuisine: chicken
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8-10
 
Thick and creamy chicken noodle soup
Ingredients
  • 7-8 cups homemade chicken broth
  • 2-3 cups rotisserie chicken, cubed or shredded
  • ½ white onion, finely chopped
  • 1 bag frozen peas and carrots (do not thaw)
  • 2 T unsalted butter
  • 3 cups of medium egg noodles, (measure out 3 cups dry before cooking)
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream (or half and half, or more milk)
  • generous amounts of salt and pepper (remember you can always add but you can't take away)
Instructions
  1. In a dutch oven, saute onion and frozen peas and carrots over medium heat with the 2 T of butter for about 5 minutes.
  2. Add in liquid and bring to a boil.
  3. Add in noodles. Cook until al dente.
  4. In a small sauce pan, heat butter and flour, whisking vigorously until all the flour is mixed in and the butter is melted. Add in milk and cream.
  5. It will thicken as it stands.
  6. When the noodles are done, add in chicken and cream mixture.
  7. Let sit for a few minutes off heat. Serve with bread or a side salad.
  8. This soup does get thicker as it sits in the fridge a while. Leftovers are more like a casserole. So yummy.
 

12 Aug 2015

Chicken and Dressing Casserole

by | posted in: food, The Charming South Kitchen | 0

Comfort food is the name of the game in the south.  There is high class comfort food – then there is just down home casserole type comfort food.  This is it.  My mister has a great church cookbook from the church he attended when he was growing up.

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

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Chicken and Dressing Casserole
Author: 
Recipe type: Casserole
Cuisine: Southern
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Easy casserole comfort food for dinner any night of the week
Ingredients
  • 3 chicken breasts
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 2 cups reserved chicken stock (from cooking chicken)
  • 1½ cup frozen corn
  • 1 5 oz box of chicken herb stuffing mix
  • 1 stick butter
Instructions
  1. Boil chicken until done. You will want to have well-seasoned water because you will be using the water for the rest of the recipe.
  2. Shred or cut up chicken in bite size pieces.
  3. Pour in the bottom of a 2-3 qt casserole dish.
  4. Mix together 1 cup chicken water, and both cans of soup, and corn.
  5. Pour over chicken.
  6. Mix together stuffing mix, melted butter, and 1 cup chicken water.
  7. Pour over chicken mixture.
  8. Bake for 25 minutes at 375.
  9. Enjoy!
 

To make this a complete meal, just add something green and maybe some bread.  You can always have dessert too – and sweet tea!

9 Aug 2015

Sundays in the South

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Atlanta Flowers on a Sunday

Today: there will be peanut butter pie on my table.  Creamy.  Perfect for summer.  And an oreo crust – you can’t get better than that.  Just for the sake of health, there will be a salad eaten before!

I love one of the recurring themes in the book of Deuteronomy: (not just the law) delight

My mister would really love this refreshing salad so I think I’ll be a good wife and make it for him this coming week

If you want to go look at some pretty photos and buy some of them…I don’t think my friend Coast and Oak would mind?

I don’t know if a hot dog ever looked so good?

What links are inspiring you this week?

20 Jul 2015

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

by | posted in: food, The Charming South Kitchen | 2

Sebastian, Donuts, and Inflation

Let’s talk about the price of inflation.  Not really – but I know if I even mentioned that to my Papa, who turned 92 last month, that I would get to sit near him and listen to his rant on the government and it would take the same amount of time as it would for me to let bread rise!  But seriously, when did food get so expensive?

This whole living on a grocery budget is really hard when you like to cook.  We are tighter but when you have two growing toddler boys and a mister who needs three meals a day and you are trying to eat healthy – it is hard.  Fresh produce is expensive and we don’t want to live entirely off of chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches.  Couponing is something I don’t have a lot of time for, don’t want to do, and most of the items we buy don’t come with coupons.

So, we will get through this month because God is good and my boys won’t starve and I’m not going to gain 5 lbs.

Spaghetti (because I already have some sauce in the freezer from when I doubled a recipe before)

The Forest Feast’s butternut squash caprese salad

Leftover fig and balsamic pork tenderloin

Chickpea and spinach curry (also leftover from last week)

I’m making PW’s French silk pie for a Sunday meal we are having with friends – but I love the way my friend Jenny talks about it over on her blog.

 

15 Jul 2015

Bourbon Glaze for Meat or Fish (and Book Review)

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Bourbon Glaze

You know those little samples of chicken with a toothpick stuck in them that you get from the fast food place in every mall across America…I gobble those up.  Well, I decided I wanted to make my own.

For Fathers Day, instead of going out and overpaying at every quality restaurant you go to – we usually decide to dine in and pick up good seafood from the counter at our local Whole Foods.  I decided I wanted to make my own bourbon glaze and boy did it ever satisfy.  I think I could drink the glaze – but instead chose to put it on fish – then put the leftovers on chicken for the next couple of weeks.

And, soon after that, I got the chance through Blogging for Books to review the book The Art of American Whiskey.  I found it interested because I know nothing about whiskey or bourbon except that the good stuff is made in KY or TN (usually).  This book told me the history of it through the art of it.  I loved learning how people made their craft and how they learned to live when prohibition hit our country and what brands are surviving and thriving today.

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Bourbon Glaze
Author: 
Recipe type: Sauce
Cuisine: American
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1½ cups
 
This perfect glaze is a hint of spicy and sweet
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup bourbon of your choice
  • ⅔ cup dark brown sugar
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 T worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp honey
  • ½ tsp brown mustard
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
Instructions
  1. Combine everything in a small saucepan.
  2. Whisk together and bring it to a boil.
  3. Reduce the heat and simmer for about ten minutes until the glaze reduces.
  4. Pour over your fave meat or salmon
  5. This glaze is great on salmon, chicken, pork chops, ribs, etc.
 

8 Jun 2015

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

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My parents are here this week so we are both eating out and cooking more than normal.

This is going in the crockpot for my Dad’s Father’s Day meal – with some southern greens cooked with bacon.

Going to make banana pudding cheesecake for this dessert.

Making a quinoa detox salad.  This looks so yummy and fresh and full of variety.

When people come in town to visit – what do you like to make?  How also do you encourage people to an overall way of eating that is healthy?

 

 

2 Mar 2015

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

by | posted in: food, The Charming South Kitchen, Uncategorized | 0

Revolution Donuts

I still cook, I promise!  I just don’t post it on here because I have really found hardly any time for blogging!

So, since I still cook, thought I would show you what is going down in my kitchen this week.

Its been 4 years tomorrow that my Granny passed away.  So, I’m making her chicken and rice, her most famous meal, tomorrow.  We’ll see how it turns out.

Two orders of sweet potatoes coming up this week:

Sweet Potatoes with a delicious herb sauce

Sweet potatoes, sausage, and swiss chard – yummy pot when it gets colder again this week.

For breakfasts we have cereal, granola, fruit.

I want to try these this week and see if my boys go for them.

What are you cooking this week?